On the day of remembrance of Hieromartyr Mikhail Gusev, his great-grandson Ivan Gennadiyevich Nikulin visited the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery.

He came to Diveyevo in time to attend the early-morning liturgy at the Trinity Cathedral. As the service ended, the sisters and church caretakers asked him and other faithful to assist at carrying icons and other church items. It so happened that Ivan has got to carry an icon of the hieromartyr Mikhail and he said with reverence: “The Lord gave me the chance to carry my great-grandfather’s icon.” This is how we got to meet him.

Ivan resides in Nizhny Novgorod working as an IT engineer. He has two children, Dasha, 11, and Feodor, 6. They are the offspring of Maria Mikhailovna, Fr. Mikhail’s daughter.

After liturgy, Ivan Gennadiyevich prayed at the prayer service to Venerable Seraphim, met Hegumenia Sergiya at the side altar of the Kazan Cathedral consecrated in memory of Mikhail and Jacob Gusev, and visited the museum of monastery’s history exhibiting personal belongings of the Gusev family.