18th century
Saint Alexandra of Diveyevo
Foundress of the Diveyevo convent, shown to her by the Theotokos in a vision, deeply esteemed by Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
Biography
Alexandra (born Agatha Melgunova) was a wealthy Russian landowner who was widowed young and became a nun in Kiev in 1760. She saw the Theotokos in a vision, asking her to found a new monastery, and after many pilgrimages she arrived at Diveyevo, near Sarov.
There she lived in stillness under the spiritual guidance of the hermits of Sarov, giving away her entire fortune to churches and the poor while doing manual labor herself. Saint Seraphim of Sarov held her in deep esteem, and after her death in 1789 he taught the nuns to seek her intercession.