Hierarch Alexander (Okropiridze) of Guria and Mingrelia

Hierarch Alexander (in the world Alexei Davidovich Okropiridze) was born in 1824 into the family of a priest in the village of Diseva, Gori uyezd, Tiflis province. In 1845 he graduated from the Tiflis Theological Seminary and on the same day, 8 July, was tonsured a monk at the Tiflis Transfiguration Monastery. He served as Bishop of Guria and Mingrelia, was known for the simplicity of his life and Christian humility, and devoted all his means to works of mercy — many orphans and poor people throughout Georgia received education and support through his care. For his missionary labors establishing Orthodoxy in Abkhazia he was called "the second apostle of Abkhazia" (after Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina of Georgia). He died in 1907. He is glorified by the Georgian Orthodox Church among the confessors.