Melgunova, Agafya Semyonovna (in monasticism — Alexandra; † 13 June 1789) — a wealthy landowner from Ryazan, founder of the Diveyevo convent, which later became the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent. She is considered the first abbess (superior) of the Diveyevo Convent; her portrait is kept among the convent's relics. Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova was a hereditary noblewoman of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate (maiden name — Belokopytova) and the wife of a colonel — a landowner in Yaroslavl, Vladimir and Ryazan governorates; she was widowed at about the age of 30, after which she took monastic vows. After her husband's death she was left with a three-year-old daughter, who died at the age of nine.[1]
Wandering and choosing a site
Around 1758 Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova arrived in Kiev and became a nun of the Florovsky Convent, after which she began wandering across Russia in search of a suitable place to found a new convent.[1] In 1760, on her way to the The Holy Dormition Sarov Hermitage, she found herself near Diveyevo in the village of Osinovka — here, according to tradition, she was shown this place as the site of a future monastery.[1]
Founding the convent in Diveyevo
In 1773–1774 Mother Alexandra took active steps toward establishing a community near the village of Diveyevo. Her labors laid the foundation for a monastery that later became one of the main Orthodox centers of Russia and the chief shrine of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[1] With the blessing of the Sarov elders, Mother Alexandra built a stone Kazan church in Diveyevo — on the spot where, according to tradition, the Mother of God appeared to her.[3] Agafya Semyonovna died on 13 June 1789.[1][3]
Remembrance
The Diveyevo Convent holds a portrait of the first abbess — Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova — counted among the convent's relics.[1] Her name is linked to the history of the monastery's founding, which in the 19th–20th centuries received nationwide veneration, in part through the work of Seraphim of Sarov. On 26 September 2000 the relics of the venerable Alexandra, Martha and Elena of Diveyevo were uncovered; on 22 December 2000 they were glorified as locally venerated saints of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese — thereby fulfilling Seraphim of Sarov's prediction of the glorification of the three Diveyevo ascetics.[1] By a determination of the 2004 Bishops' Council, the venerable Alexandra of Diveyevo was numbered among the saints of the whole Church.[3]
After being uncovered, the relics were transferred to the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent, and in November 2006 — to the convent's Kazan church owing to repair work in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. On 6 March 2009 the portrait of Mother Alexandra (Melgunova) was returned to the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent.[2]
Sources
- Wikipedia (ru) — Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova was a hereditary noblewoman of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate (maiden name — Belokopytova) and the wife of a colonel — a landowner in Yaroslavl, Vladi (archive)
- web.archive.org — After being uncovered, the relics were transferred to the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent, and in November 2006 — to the Kazan church of the convent owing to re (archive)
- azbyka.ru — Alexandra of Diveyevo (Melgunova): life, icons, day of remembrance (archive)