Saint Alexander (Okropiridze), Bishop of Guria and Samegrelo, was a Georgian hierarch of the nineteenth century remembered for his labors in education, church restoration, and the revival of Georgian Christian life. Born Alexei Okropiridze in 1824 into a priestly family in the village of Disevi in the Gori district of Georgia, he was educated at the Gori Theological School and the Tbilisi Seminary, completing his studies in 1845.
After his seminary studies he was tonsured a monk at the Tbilisi Monastery of the Transfiguration, receiving the name Alexander, and pursued advanced theological studies at the Kazan Academy in Russia, from which he graduated with honors. Returning to Georgia, he taught at the Tbilisi Seminary and rose through the ranks of the clergy, being elevated to archimandrite in 1856 and consecrated bishop in 1862. In 1898 he became Bishop of Guria and Samegrelo, serving until 1903.
He devoted his ministry to the renewal of Georgian ecclesiastical life, restoring numerous churches and monasteries, championing the Georgian language in worship and education, founding a diocesan school for women in Tbilisi, and publishing spiritual and historical works. A spiritual father of St. Ilia the Righteous, he fell asleep in the Lord on October 27, 1907, and was buried at Shio-Mgvime Monastery. His feast is kept on October 27.
