Fr. Dimitry Kosolapov, the rector of the Church of the New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth in the city of Megion in the Khanty-Mansi Diocese, departed to the Lord on March 22, 2017, following a car accident. He left behind his wife, Matushka Maria, and their five children.

The fatal accident occurred early in the morning on March 10. The driver, Fr. Dimitry’s sister Inna, and her husband were killed instantly in the accident. Father initially survived, though severely wounded. He was in the ICU from March 10 to 22, and his parishioners, together with Matushka and his family, fervently prayed for him day and night.

Matushka was left with the family’s five young children, the youngest of whom, Liza, is disabled from cerebral palsy. She is almost always in a wheelchair and cannot speak. The other children are in school.

After Father’s death, Matushka and the children moved closer to her parents in the southern city of Anapa. It was very difficult for a widow with five children to stay up north. With a sick daughter in need of constant care and supervision, Matushka can’t get a job. Between Liza’s treatment and rehabilitation and the raising of the other children, the family has huge expenses, and their state benefits are not nearly enough.

The family would be very grateful for our help.

Dimitry Vladimirovich Kosolapov was born on November 1, 1975, in the city of Mariupol in the Donetsk Oblast. In the early 1980s, the family moved northward, to the city of Noyabrsk.

Little Dima was baptized as a child at the insistence of his religious grandmothers. Christian books began to appear in the country in the early 90s, brought in by Protestants, and it was then that the teenager Dimitry read the Bible for the first time.

Then, one day on a train, his heart was turned upside down by an elderly woman who told him: “God loves you.” From that landmark moment began his conscious religious life, but his father, who held a high position in the criminal investigation department, was initially categorically against his son’s religious views and search.

After school, Dimitry continued his education at a medical institute, after which he worked several years as a nurse in the ICU. The final formation and strengthening of his faith occurred during these working years. People’s suffering and the constant nearness of death greatly affected the young man’s sensitive soul. He carried the gift of feeling other’s pain as his own throughout his entire life, which later became very useful in his priestly ministry.

On weekends, Dimitry always helped in the altar. Seeing his zeal and purity of soul, his priests blessed him to go to seminary.

In the summer of 2004, in Anapa, the future priest Dimitry married Marianna, named Maria in Baptism. They celebrated their wedding very modestly, in a close family circle. They took a trip to Tobolsk Seminary instead of a honeymoon, and Dimitry then began his studies in the third year of the program. The couple was given a room in the student dormitory.

A year later, their first child, Anna, was born.

Dimitry was ordained to the diaconate during Great Lent in March 2005, and to the priesthood a year later. After graduating from Tobolsk Seminary in 2007, the young priest was assigned to the city of Megion.

Almost immediately upon arrival to Megion, the family’s second child, Nikolai, was born. The family grew very quickly, with four children born one after the other. The fifth child, Liza, was born through great difficulties and the fervent prayers of her parents. Liza is a special child, with a severe case of cerebral palsy. She cannot stand on her own two feet without support and cannot walk or speak, but it is little Liza who is the family’s greatest joy, like a ray of light warming everyone.

The couple lived in perfect harmony. Everything worked out for them and they never had any disagreements. Matushka remembers her departed husband with special reverence, noting that he was an unusually harmonious person, emanating peace and quiet. The Lord gave him many gifts that are especially valuable for a priest, which attracted many to him.

Matushka has said: “I am very grateful to people. God has revealed to me the beauty of human souls, which gave me great joy and happiness, despite the unspeakable pain. Father understood other people’s pain as his own, because he himself had a lot of pain, and was very patient and kind.”

Священник: Fr. Dimitry Kosolapov
Матушка: Matushka Maria Kosolapova
Место жительства: The city of Anapa, Krasnodar Territory, Russia.