Retirement and Death
Metropolitan Seraphim retired in 1933 due to old age, ill health, and the threat of potential arrest. He celebrated his last mass on October 24 of that year in Leningrad, after which he travelled to Moscow. He stayed briefly at the residence of the Patriarch locum tenens, Metropolitan Sergius, before moving to an apartment.
Seraphim's health deteriorated steadily after his retirement. He suffered from hypertonic dehydration and heart disease, and gradually lost all mobility. Despite his condition, he was charged with monarchist propaganda and arrested on November 30, 1937. Upon his arrest, the NKVD officers carried him from his home on a stretcher. He was imprisoned in Taganka Prison and sentenced to death by firing squad. He was executed at the Butovo firing range on December 11, 1937.
Read more about this topic: Seraphim Chichagov
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