Life in Russia
Alexis Medvedkov was born on July 1, 1867 in the village of Fomichevo, near Viazma in the province of Smolensk. His father, John, was a country priest who died while Alexis was young, leaving the family in poverty. Alexis was educated at an ecclesiastical school and then at the theological seminary of Saint Petersburg, from which he graduated in 1889.
He was first ordained a reader and served for several years at the Church of St Catherine on Vasilievsky Island, marrying during this period. On the encouragement of Saint John of Kronstadt he accepted ordination, becoming a deacon in December 1895 and a priest two days later. From 1896 he was rector of the Dormition parish at Vrouda for roughly twenty-three years, ministering to the surrounding villages, laboring in the fields alongside his peasant parishioners, and establishing schools.
Persecution and Exile
After the revolution of 1917 Father Alexis was among those arrested by the Bolshevik authorities. According to the accounts of his life he was imprisoned and tortured before being released. He afterward fled to Estonia, where he worked in shale mines and was appointed to serve the parish at Levve. His wife died in 1929. He subsequently sought admission to the Russian Orthodox jurisdiction of Metropolitan Eulogy (Evlogy) in Western Europe.
Ministry at Ugine
In December 1930 Father Alexis was appointed rector of a newly created Russian parish at Ugine, a steel-industry town in the French Alps whose factory employed several hundred Russian immigrants. Described as gentle and withdrawn, he devoted himself to prayer, sought to make peace among his parishioners, and is said to have given money quietly to the poor. He carried out his ministry amid hardship, the indifference of many parishioners, and personal slander.
In July 1934 he was hospitalized at Annecy, where cancer was diagnosed. The accounts relate that he asked forgiveness of those who had wronged him before his death on the morning of August 22, 1934. He was buried at Ugine before a large crowd.
Relics & Shrines
When his grave at Ugine was reopened in 1956, twenty-two years after his burial, his body was found incorrupt. According to the accounts, the wooden coffin had decomposed and the soil was wet, yet the body was preserved.
The relics were translated in 1957 to the crypt of the Dormition church at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, near Paris. Following his canonization in 2004 they were moved to the Church of the Transfiguration at the monastery of Bussy-en-Othe.
Miracles & Traditions
Historically Documented: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople canonized Father Alexis at the session of its Holy Synod on January 16, 2004, and the act was proclaimed in Paris (at the Cathedral of St Alexander Nevsky) in May 2004.
Traditional Accounts: The accounts of his life relate that when his grave was reopened his body was found undecayed despite his having died of cancer, and that a physician present declared the preservation a miracle. The incorruption of his relics was regarded as a sign of holiness and contributed to his recognition as a saint.
