Ellwood City, PA, January 22, 2026
Photo: basilica.ro
Yesterday, January 21, marked the 35th anniversary of the repose of Mother Alexandra, known as Princess Ileana of Romania in the world, who founded the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
The monastery, currently head by Abbess Christophora, commemorated her repose yesterday with the celebration of Matins and the Divine Liturgy. The service was livestreamed:
In her remarks at the end of Liturgy, Mother Christophora noted that Mother Alexandra was also commemorated at a memorial service earlier in the month together with other sisters whose anniversaries fall in January.
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Mother Alexandra was born to King Ferdinand I the Unifier and Queen Marie of Romania on December 23, 1908 (January 5, 1909, according to the Revised Calendar). Through her mother, she was related to the royal families of Great Britain and Russia.
The international press called her “the most beautiful child in Europe.” She was an accomplished princess, following in the footsteps of her noble mother through her artistic talent and social engagement, writes the Basilica News Agency.
Photo: basilica.ro
She established the Queen’s Heart Hospital in Bran (in memory of Queen Marie), worked as a nurse during World War II, and led the Girl Scouts and the Romanian YMCA Women’s Christian Association.
She studied at Heathfield College in Ascot, Great Britain. She was passionate about yachting (she held a long-distance captain’s certificate), as well as the fine arts, studying painting and sculpture.
She was married twice. She had six children from her first marriage, to Archduke Anton of Austria.
In 1965, she became a monastic in France, taking the name Mother Alexandra.
In 1967, she founded and served as abbess at the first English-language Orthodox monastery in the United States, in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania—the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration.
She returned to Romania only once, in September 1990. At Bran, she was warmly welcomed by 2,000 people.
She reposed surrounded by family on January 21, 1991, in Youngstown, Ohio, at the age of 82. She was buried at the monastery she founded.
Read more about Mother Alexandria in the article, “Royal Lady, Pious Nun—Princess Ileana-Mother Alexandra.”
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