Venerable Alexandra Diveevskaya

Alexandra, born Agafia Semyonovna Melgunova (c. 1729, Ryazan – June 13, 1789, Diveyevo), was an Orthodox Christian nun and saint, and the founder of the Diveyevo Convent. She came from a noble family. Widowed at a young age, she was left to raise her young daughter alone. She entered the Saint Florus Convent in Kyiv, where she reportedly experienced a vision of the Theotokos, who instructed her to establish a new women's monastery. She then traveled to the Sarov Monastery, where the monks recommended the village of Osinovka, near Diveyevo, as the site for the future monastic community. Alexandra eventually settled at the rectory of the church in Diveyevo around 1765, following the death of her daughter and the sale of her family estate. She donated all the proceeds to the construction of new churches, including the main cathedral of the Sarov Monastery. For twenty years, she lived alone at the rectory, performing manual labor. According to her contemporaries, she was highly educated, well-versed in canon law, and known for her kindness and willingness to help others. She was a spiritual disciple of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. In 1788, a new Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was built in Diveyevo. With the permission of the Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, Mother Alexandra built three cells next to it for women who wished to join her in the new monastery. She became the convent's first superior. She died on June 13, 1789, and was buried in the church at Diveyevo, where her relics are currently displayed for public veneration. She is also included in the Synaxis of the Saints of Kyiv, established in 2011.