Archbishop
Saint Alexander was born on August 23, 1851, in Lutsk, in the province of Volhynia. In 1892, he completed his studies and began teaching at the parish school in the village of Knyaginyn. After the death of his mother, he led a restless and unsettled life until he saw her in a dream, calling him to renounce worldly pursuits and enter the monastic life. On September 1, 1899, he became a novice at the Holy Trinity Monastery, where he was tonsured on June 9, 1900. Shortly thereafter, he was ordained hierodeacon and hieromonk, while he was later appointed abbot of the monastery.
Beginning in 1901, he served in another monastic community and later in the Turkestan Diocese, where he held several important positions. In 1906, he returned to the European part of Russia and served at the Zhirovitsy Assumption Monastery. Two years later, in 1908, he was transferred to the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, where he was appointed abbot.
In 1910, he became abbot of the Lubny Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. In 1917, he was appointed rector of the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery, and later settled in the Kozelshchansky Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery. In 1929, this settlement was closed by the authorities. In 1932, he was consecrated bishop of Uman, later appointed to the Vinnytsia diocese, and subsequently transferred to Kharkiv, where he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
In Kharkiv, Saint Alexander faced the closure of churches and many other hardships brought about by the times. Despite the persecution, he worked tirelessly to revive the faith and restore the spirit of prayer among the faithful, urging them to participate in the Divine Services. On July 28, 1938, he was arrested and subjected to severe torture. On March 15, 1939, he was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. Saint Alexander reposed on May 24, 1940, after being taken to the prison hospital. His body was secretly buried at the Zalyutynskoye Cemetery in Kharkiv.
