The cross necklace is a mandatory sign of one’s being an Orthodox Christian churchgoer. The pectoral cross is placed on the priest at his ordination — elevation to the clergy. The shape and décor of the pectoral cross are strictly regulated. The word “pectoral” means “worn on the chest”. The pectoral cross is a reminder to the priest about the weight and gravity of his ministry and at the same time about the source of his strength as a clergyman.
This pectoral cross belonged to the priest of the church in the village of Bogorodskoye Leonid Ivanovich Leontiev. The village of Bogorodskoye has been known since the time of Ivan the Terrible: he gave these lands to one of the voivodes. The new owner especially revered the Most Holy Theotokos, to whom he prayed during campaigns and wars. He also entrusted the Mother of God with the care of his village, calling it Bogorodskoye (literally — “belonging to the Mother of God”).
The first church in Bogorodskoye was wooden, with one altar table, of the simplest construction. Today there is a church with two altar tables in the village: the main one is consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the side one is in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker. Its construction was completed in 1821.
Leonid Ivanovich Leontiev was born in 1896 in the village of Bydreyevka in the Semenovsky District. In 1922, he became a priest of the parish church in Bogorodskoye and served there for 10 years. On November 18, 1937, Leonid Ivanovich was arrested by the officers of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR. He did not renounce his cross and made the sign of the cross over his wife and four sons when parting with them. For that, one of the NKVD officers ripped the cross off Leontiev’s neck and threw it on the ground.
Leonid Ivanovich was convicted and sentenced to death under two articles for counter-revolutionary actions. The sentence was carried out on December 11, 1937. Later, Priest Leontiev was rehabilitated, deemed a saint, but not canonized. Leonid Leontiev’s pectoral cross was donated to the Sergach Local Lore Museum by his grandson.
