Venerable Marta Diwiejewska

Martha, born Maria Semyonovna Milyukova, was an Orthodox Christian monastic saint. She entered the Diveyevo Convent with her older sister at the age of 13. Despite her youth, her spiritual director, the future Saint Seraphim of Sarov, allowed her to become a novice. She became his spiritual student and, according to tradition, was distinguished by the severity of her ascetic practices, spending all her time in prayer. She also voluntarily performed the most arduous labor in the monastery. At the age of 19, the novice Maria fell gravely ill and soon died. Before her death, Hieromonk Seraphim secretly tonsured her into the Great Schema with the name Martha. She was buried in a grave dug by Seraphim himself. He later recalled that he always prayed at her grave whenever he visited the Diveyevo Convent, which remained under his care.