Chania, September 29, 2014
Nun Alexia (secular name: Melpomena Muratoglu), the oldest nun, Greek by birth, has reposed at aged 105 at the Cretan Convent of Chrysopigi near the city of Chania.
The future Mother Alexia was born in 1909 on the small island of Bozcaada (Tenedos), in Turkish territorial waters, to the south of the strait of the Dardanelles, under the Sultan Abdul Hamid II (who ruled from 1876 till 1909). After becoming a widow, she was tonsured a nun in 1993 by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
The patriarch gave her the monastic name Alexia in honor of the ever-memorable Patriarch Alexis I (Simansky; 1877-1970) of Moscow and All Russia, reports the Dveri.bg Bulgarian portal.
Mother Alexia carried out her ministry at the patriarchal Cathedral of St. George the Victory-Bearer at the Phanar in Istanbul for many years. For the last three years, needing care, Nun Alexia lived at the convent on Crete.
Till the final days of her life Mother Alexia was of sound mind, remembered all events of her extremely long life, and had a lively interest in the affairs of the convent and the Patriarch of Constantinople. She died as a result of cardiac insufficiency.
In the presence of the convent abbess and sisters, with singing “Save, o Lord, Thy people”, Nun Alexia gave her soul into the Hands of God.
