The last abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra before its closure in 1961.

The future abbot of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was born on April 3, 1899, in the village of Zhulyany, Kyiv province.

From the age of 11, Nikita sang in the kliros at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and served as a canonarch for more than four years. In 1915, he was drafted into the army and served in Kyiv. In December 1917, following the Bolshevik coup, he made a fateful decision for himself and joined the brotherhood of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Two years later, he completed pastoral courses at the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery and served as a singer in the Lavra until 1923. He was then transferred to the Lavra’s metochion in Leningrad, where he fulfilled the obedience of a choir director.

He took monastic tonsure on August 3, 1924, and in the same month was ordained a hierodeacon.

On February 16, 1933, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years of exile. With the Great Patriotic War outbreak, he served in the army in an aircraft design regiment. After the war, on December 11, 1945, he was once again accepted into the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. A year later, Metropolitan John (Sokolov) of Kyiv and Halych ordained him a hieromonk, appointing him first as the dean and then as the treasurer of the monastery.

From 1949 to 1953, he studied at the Kyiv Theological Seminary, after which he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. On August 1, 1953, he was appointed abbot of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, fulfilling this obedience until February 1961.

On December 6, 1953, he was consecrated a bishop, becoming Bishop of Uman, vicar of the Kyiv diocese.

Bishop Nestor’s tenure as abbot of the Lavra took place during a period of intensified anti-Orthodox persecution in the country, with monasteries and churches being closed, believers persecuted, and church buildings demolished or set on fire. In 1960, the Kyiv Theological Seminary was abolished, and a decree was issued restricting bell ringing, which in practice meant its complete prohibition. Criminal cases were opened due to workshops and enterprises where the diocese and the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery placed orders for the production of crosses and church items.

As of January 1, 1958, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra housed 96 monks. During this period, monastics were deprived of their Kyiv registration, resulting in their transfer to monasteries in various regions of Ukraine. By the mid-1960s, only 37 monks remained in the monastery, and by February 15, 1961, only 11 were left.

In the late 1950s, the Far Caves, the Exaltation of the Cross Church, and the Church of All Pechersk Saints, also known as the Warm Church, were closed, and the holy wells were filled in. Only the Annunciation Church was left for monastic worship. In 1959, five out of the monastery’s eight buildings were confiscated. The anti-Orthodox campaign was supported by city and regional newspapers, cinema, radio, and other propaganda means. Eventually, on February 15, 1961, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was closed to visitors. However, the faithful continued to come to the Lavra, and on Paschal night in 1962, a service was held near the Far Caves.

Before the monastery was closed, Bishop Nestor ordained several monks as hierodeacons and hieromonks, hoping they could find positions in parishes. After the closure, several monks relocated to the mountainous areas of New Athos. It would take 27 years before a few of the former Lavra brethren could return to the holy monastery.

After the monastery’s closure in 1961, Bishop Nestor was transferred to the Kharkiv see, and in 1964, he became Bishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn. From childhood, Bishop Nestor was raised and embraced the monastic way of life under the protection of the Holy Lavra. Within its sacred walls, he grew spiritually and preserved his prayerful disposition, monastic humility, and simplicity until the end of his days.

Possessing a good voice and musical ear, he deeply loved liturgical services with their inspiring hymns. He was a wise leader with rich life experience. “Gentle and precise in communication, but at the same time strict”—this is how contemporaries remembered him, as recalled by Protodeacon Alexander Kireev.

Bishop Nestor earned the devotion of the clergy and faithful and maintained extensive correspondence until his passing. He reposed on February 17, 1969, in Kyiv. According to his will, he was buried in monastic attire and a klobuk at the Zverinets Cemetery in Kyiv.