Abbess Alexandra (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen)

Abbess Alexandra (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) (1909-1991)

Ileana may be spelt Eleana, Elena, Helen, Iliana.

Alexandra may be spelt Aleksandra.

Early life

On 5 January, 1909, Ileana was born at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, Romania, to Ferdinand I, King of Romania and Queen Marie of Romania. She had other siblings, Carol, Elisabeth, Maria, Nicholas, and Mircea.

She and they were all raised as Orthodox Christians within the bosom of the Romanian Orthodox Church (the kin] had been permitted to remain a Roman Catholic, but the children were raised as Orthodox Christians).

Family history and environment

The official family name was Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, which indicates the German origin and ancestry of the family (a principality in southwestern Germany, which had been annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia ). This German ancestry was controversial in Romania, as was the case elsewhere.

King Ferdinand was son of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and he was baptised as a Roman Catholic.

Queen Marie was a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of Britain, and Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Although her mother was an Orthodox Christian, she was baptised by the Church of England as a Protestant, to her mother’s perturbation. Nevertheless, Queen Marie embraced the Orthodox Christian Faith after a time. The relationship between the king and queen was rather formal and friend-like rather than that of a profound marriage.

About her daughter, Queen Marie wrote in her memoirs :

 Ileana from her earliest infancy had an earnestness about her which the 
 other four did not possess.  Her large dark blue eyes looked at you with deep
 inquiry and the child seemed to understand your every emotion with almost
 uncanny lucidity.
 
 Ileana was naturally well-behaved ; Ileana, as is so seldom the case, was born
 with the law within her, it was never necessary to teach Ileana the difference
 between right and wrong.  Ileana knew.  But this did not make of her a prig,
 she was a gay, happy child, full of life and high spirits, and when Mircea
 appeared early in the year 1913, Ileana loved him with motherly ardour and
 Mircea adored Ileana more than anyone on this earth ; more than his mother,
 more than his nurse.  

World War I (1914-1918)

During her childhood, Ileana lived through the harsh realities of World War I. Along with her mother and her sisters, she would visit the soldiers in the hospitals and on troop trains. They cared for soldiers who were wounded or afflicted by cholera, gave them assistance, and prayed with them. Princess Ileana also helped the Red Cross in Romania as an interpreter for one of the American colonels who was distributing supplies.

Exile of Prince Carol, 1925

In 1925, Prince Carol was forced to abdicate his rights to royal accession, and also to leave Romania. This came about in the context of various political and romantic complications.

Visit to USA, 1926

In 1926, Queen Marie made an official visit to the USA, and she was accompanied by her children, Princess Marie, Prince Nicholas, and Princess Ileana. They arrived in New York City, New York, and then they ravelled by railway to Washington State. There, Queen Marie opened the Maryhill Museum of Art at Maryhill on the right bank of the Columbia River (the southern border of Washington State). There were other stops during their travel, since this was an official state visit. On their return, they found that King Ferdinand was very unwell, and suffering from intestinal cancer.

Bereavement, 1927

On 20 July, 1927, King Ferdinand of Romania reposed in Christ from cancer at Sinaia, Romania, the summer residence (137 km/85 mi northwest of Bucharest). The Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person (with royal adjustments) was served for King Ferdinand by Patriarch Miron (Cristea) and the bishops of the Romanian Orthodox Holy Synod at the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen in Bucharest.

Following the completion of the funeral obsequies, the body of King Ferdinand was taken in solemn procession to the railway station. The coffin containing his body was transferred to a railway carriage, and transported to the Curtea de Argeș Monastery, at Curtea de Argeş, Municipiul Curtea de Argeș, Argeș County. It was interred in the crypt of the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos. This is situated about 96.6 m (86 mi) northwest of Bucharest.

King Michael, 1927, regency

King Ferdinand was succeeded by his grandson, King Michael (Mihai) I, who, being still a child, was supervised and guided by a regency of 3 persons (his uncle, Prince Nicolae, Patriarch Miron ({Cristea), and the Chief Justice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Buzdugan Gheorghe Buzdugan, and then from October, 1929, Constantin Sărățeanu).

Girl Guiding Movement

In her late adolescence, Princess Ileana was the organiser and Chief of the Girl Guide Movement (1928) in Romania. (The Girl Guide Movement had begun in the year of her birth, 1909.) Later, Princess Ileana was involved in the Guiding movement in Austria. From 1935, she served as president of the Austrian Girl Guides until Girl Guiding and Boy Scouting were banned in 1938 after the Anschluss (the forced annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany).

Other activities

Princess Ileana was the organiser of the Girl Reserves of the Red Cross, and of the first school of Social Work in Romania. In addition, she was an avid sailor. She was able to navigate competently, and she had earned her navigator’s papers. Moreover, she owned and sailed the yacht “Isprava” for many years. Princess Ileana lived through many complicated difficult situations within her family as she was growing up. Besides the cultural tensions that existed (principally between the German/British influence, and the local Romanian culture), and various irregular/illicit romantic encounters that occurred from time to time within the family. In 1926, Queen Marie made an official visit to the USA, and she was accompanied by her children, Princess Marie, and Prince Nicholas. They arrived in New York City, New York, and then travelled by railway to Washington State. There, Queen Marie opened the Maryhill Museum of Art at Maryhill (on the southern border of Washington State). In both directions, there were formal stops along the way.

From about that time, after the marriages of the elder children, Queen Marie’s focus was on finding her last unmarried daughter a suitable partner. An engagement to the Crown Prince of Italy was reported, but denied by Queen Marie ; and rumours of a marriage to the Tsar of Bulgaria were debunked by its royal court. In 1930, Princess Ileana was briefly engaged to Count Alexander of Hochberg. Queen Marie favored the match, being pleased by the English blood and wealth of Count Alexander's family. The engagement was broken, however, when Count Alexander’s homosexual activities came to light. Then her brother, Prince Carol, introduced her to Archduke Anton (Habsburg-Lorraine) of Austria. This introduction led to the proposal of marriage. However, the motives of the prince were questionable. He was jealous of the popularity of his sister Princess Ileana with the Romanian populace, and he wished to find ways in which she could be removed from the country.

King Carol II, 1930

By 1930, certain politicians were dissatisfied with the work of the regency, and they invited Prince Carol to return as king.

King Michael was demoted to the level of “Crown Prince”, in which condition he remained for another 10 years.

Marriage, 1931

In Peleș Castle at Sinaia, Romania, on 26 July 1931, Princess Ileana married the Archduke Anton ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg Habsburg-Lorraine) of Austria], Prince of Tuscany.

Soon after the wedding, King Carol II claimed that the Romanian people would never tolerate a Habsburg living on Romanian soil ; and on these grounds, he refused Ileana and Anton permission to live in Romania. Thus, they had no choice but to leave Romania.

Indeed, the king was jealous of Princess Ileana’s great popularity in Romania, and he wanted her to move abroad. This arrangement did not last forever, however.

Over the next 10 years, Princess Ileana bore 6 children, namely Stefan (1932–1998) ; Maria Ileana (1933–1959) ; Alexandra (1935-____) ; Dominic von Habsburg (1937-____) ; Maria Magdalena (1939–2021) ; Elisabeth (1942–2019).

Bereavement, 1938

In 1937, Queen Marie felt unwell. After some examination, it seems that there were varying opinions. One was pancreatic cancer, the other was cirrhosis of the liver. The queen did not accept the latter, since she never partook of alcohol. In early 1938, she visited various spas in Italy and Germany, where she took treatments, but to no avail. She returned to Romania by rail, and she withdrew to the Pelișor Palace at Sinaia.

On 18 July, 1938, Queen Marie of Romania, mother of Princess Ileana, reposed in Christ at Sinaia, Romania.

On 20 July, 1938, Queen Marie’s body was brought to Bucharest, where she lay in state in the white drawing room at Cotroceni Palace.

On 23 July, 1938, the [Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person] was served for Queen Marie of Romania at the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen in Bucharest.

After the conclusion of the funeral obsequies, the funeral cortege made its way to the train station, and it passed under the Arch of Triumph. Her coffin was taken by railway to Curtea de Argeș Monastery, where her body was interred in the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral crypt.

Royal dictatorship

In 1938, King Carol II declared a “royal dictatorship” during which there were decisions and activities which favoured the policies of Mr. Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany (despite official neutrality).

King Michael, 1940

In 1940, after the pro-German factions determined King Carol to be anti-German, and staged a coup-d’état. King Carol II was deposed, and King Michael was returned to the royal throne of Romania. It was he who headed the country during the time of Romania’s more active participation in World War II.

World War II (1939-1945)

During World War II, Duke Anton was conscripted into the Luftwaffe. After this, their castle in Austria, Sonnberg (outside Vienna, Austria), was used first as housing for German soldiers, and then for Romanian soldiers. In 1943, Princess Ileana turned it into a Red Cross Hospital. She was assisted in this task by her friend Sheila Kaul.

Change of government, 1944

On 23 August, 1944, King Michael participated in a coup in which (with the support of some political parties), he removed the government of Mr. Ion Antonescu (whose government had been aligned with the Nazi German government). The king appointed Constantin Sănătescu as his replacement, and he subsequently declared an alliance with “the Allies”. Meanwhile, considerable pressure was exerted against Romania by the Soviet Union.

Also in 1944, Princess Ileana and her family returned to Romania, to Bran Castle (near Brașov), which she inherited from her mother. Archduke Anton joined them, but he was placed under house arrest by the Red Army. Princess Ileana established and worked in a new hospital across from the castle in Bran village, which she named “The Hospital of the Queen’s Heart” in memory of her beloved mother, Queen Marie of Romania. Its purpose was to serve soldiers, villagers, and anyone in need of medical attention.

Further troubles, Communists in power

On 6 March, 1945, as World War II was ending, Romania was overcome by the military of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Soon afterwards, political pressures forced King Michael to appoint a communist government headed by Petru Groza. From August, 1945, to January, 1946, King Michael went on a "royal strike", in which he tried (unsuccessfully) to oppose Mr. Groza’s communist-controlled government by refusing to sign and endorse its decrees.

In November, 1947, King Michael attended the marriage of his cousins, the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in London, England.

Shortly thereafter, on the morning of 30 December, 1947, Petru Groza met with King Michael, and he compelled him to abdicate. The communist government abolished the monarchy. Then, King Michael was forced into exile in Europe ; his properties confiscated, and his citizenship stripped from him. The abdication had been negotiated by the Communist government (some say “at gunpoint”), which allowed him to leave the country with the goods he requested, and accompanied by some of the royal family and associates.

Exile

After the abdication of King Michael I of Romania, Princess Ileana and her family were exiled from the newly-Communist Romania. She was told that she with her whole family could leave the country with whatever they could carry, or be confined in a monastery until they were executed.

They escaped by train to the Russian sector of Vienna (at that time divided into 3 sectors). After that, they settled briefly in Switzerland, and they managed to move on to Argentina.

Sadly, conditions in Peron's Argentina, fraught with cheating and corruption, were worse than it had been in Europe. In 1950, Princess Ileana was struck down with arthritis and she received permission to come to the United States for medical treatment. By then, her marriage to Archduke Anton of Austria was failing, and she arrived in the USA with her children, $300.00, and wrapped in a nightgown, the by-now famous tiara with a sapphire as big as a man's pocket watch (which Tsar Nicholas II of Russia had had made for his Empress when he was crowned, and which Queen Marie had inherited and had given to Princess Ileana when she married the Archduke). The story of the pawning and later sale of that tiara so she could buy a house in the lovely New England countryside near Boston and feed her children was told throughout the world. She had once been addressed as Her Imperial and Royal Highness, the Most Illustrious Archduchess and Lady ; now the milk-man banged on her door and yelled "Mrs. Habsburg !"

When Princess Iliana had received the medical visa to enter the USA, she and the 4 youngest children moved there (the oldest 2 were already in the US for their studies), where she bought a house in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

The then senator John F Kennedy introduced a bill in congress to give her permanent residency. In order to provide for her family, she accepted many speaking engagements around the USA, in which she talked about her life and about the evils of Communism.

She needed to work to maintain herself and her family. The work she found was unexpected. In the fall of 1950 she was asked by the Boston Institute of Management to give a lecture. She chose as her subject "Communism and Christianity," and she was paid $25.00 for it! It was the beginning of a completely new career, and eventually she was given the crucial test that awaits all public lecturers in America – she was invited to address a gathering at the New York Town Hall. She came through with flying colours, and she began touring as a lecturer throughout the country, travelling up to 60,000 miles a year as she lectured in various places.

As a public speaker for 11 years, she spoke throughout the country about the sufferings of the Romanian people under Communism. Deeply religious, she was also a favourite speaker at religious gatherings.

End of marriage, 1954

Princess Ileana and Archduke Anton officially divorced on 29 May, 1954. Her ex-husband returned to Austria, where he lived until his repose in Salzburg on 22 October, 1987.

Second marriage, 1954

On 19 June, 1954 in Newton, Massachusetts, Princess Ileana was married to Dr. Stefan Nikolas Issarescu. This marriage later ended in divorce (without issue) in 1965.

1950-1961

The years from 1950 to 1961 were spent lecturing against communism, working with the Romanian Orthodox Church in the United States, writing 2 books : “I Live Again” (a memoir of her last years in Romania), and “Hospital of the Queen's Heart” (describing the establishment and running of the hospital). During these years of war and exile, there were developments in her heart and spiritual life which began to bring about a very different direction in her life.

In the 1950s, Princess Ileana's love for her Church and her heritage found an outlet in a co-operation with the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, and with "the Solia". She began writing religious articles for the "Solia", and to teach at the Religious Education courses given at the "Vatra" (the diocesan headquarters). This co-operation with the Episcopate and the Solia lasted for many years, for the spiritual enrichment of both. Princess Ileana also lent her support to the Episcopate's struggle for independence from the Communist-dominated Romanian Patriarchate in Bucharest. She stood at the Bishop's side when the attacks against him intensified in the 1960s.

Movement towards monasticism

The transformation of Princess to Nun was gradual and did not come overnight as a result of a revelation. It was gradual, and in some respect painful, as the process to extricate herself from a married life, as well as from a very active social life. It took several years.

In 1957, Princess Ileana underwent a very difficult operation, which would keep her bedridden for weeks. It was during this time that the need to change her life to one dedicated to prayer and to the Church made itself felt very strongly. She struggled with this need in silence for an entire year. Finally, in the fall of 1958, she shared her desire for solitude and prayer with her husband, but she took no active steps in that direction.

Bereavement, 1959

A few months later, in January, 1959, she lost her youngest daughter Minola with her husband in a tragic plane accident in Brazil.

During the summer of that same year, her oldest son Stefan was struck by a severe case of viral encephalitis which would require years of recovery. Those personal tragedies in her life only strengthened her desire for peace and tranquility that a life dedicated to monasticism and prayer would offer but she would not take that step for another 2 years.

Bussy-en-Othe, 1961

Finally, in September of 1961 she visited Bussy-en-Othe, a monastery for nuns in France, for a first-hand experience of what life as a nun would be. She liked what she found there, and in March of 1963 she made the final and irrevocable decision to enter monastic life.

At the beginning of her postulancy in the Bussy-en-Othe monastery in France, the new Postulante Ileana wrote to a friend who wondered about her ability to retreat from a world in which she was such an active spokesperson in behalf of her suffering countrymen under Communism :

 As far as my country and my countrymen are concerned, all that trespasses on my life of prayer has been gradually
 cut out, but I remain in the service of their and my Church.  Our Faith and nation are so closely linked as to be 
 one.  I was born to a position of responsibility and leadership, and it is both in the Orthodox and Royal tradition 
 that one of my station should in days of stress enter monastic life and pray with and for them.   

For several years prior and even at the beginning of her monastic life, Princess Ileana was sending the Word of God and daily meditations that were transmitted via Radio Free Europe to her countrymen in Romania. For many listeners it would be the only Word of God they would receive in those times.

Her children were fully supportive of her desire to dedicate herself to a life of prayer and meditation. They could see her devotion to the Church and the visible joy she was experiencing in her new life. One thing her new life could not change, however. The new habit she would wear henceforth and the various religious titles she would earn (postulante, novice, sister, mother, etc.) did not change the fact of her royal ancestry. Officially, her passport continued to be issued to "Princess Ileana of Romania," profession : "monastic".

Monastic tonsure

In 1961, with the blessing of the then Bishop Anthony (Bloom) of Sergievo and the Exarchate of Western Europe (who lived and served in London, England), she began testing her sense of calling to the monastic life. She travelled to France, where she entered the Women’s Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in ] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussy-en-Othe Bussy-en-Othe], in Bourgogne. While she was in this monastery, she was tonsured a Rasophore Nun, and she was called Sister Ileana.

Sister Ileana remained in this monastery for 6 years, although she visited the USA each summer so as to maintain her permanent residency status. While there, she taught at the Romanian Vatra about the Orthodox Christian Faith, and about monasticism. During this period, it became clear to her that North America needed an English-speaking monastery for women. In 1967, Sister Ileana (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) was tonsured to be a Stavrophore Nun, and she was given the name Alexandra.

At that time, Mother Alexandra was given the blessing to attempt the founding of a women’s monastic community in her adopted country, the USA.

In 1964, property had been purchased at Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, with a view to the potential establishment of a monastery within the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America (ROEA). This was under the [omophor] of Archbishop Valerian (Triva).

The search for a suitable monastery location went coast to coast for several years. From the many sites the search committee checked out, two potential properties for a monastery surfaced in 1966: a 40-acre property located in Smith Valley, Nevada, a desert-location much to the liking of Sister Ileana, considering the historical tradition of the beginning of monasticism to locate monastic communities in the desert, and the present 96-acre location in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania location had much in its favor regarding its proximity to Orthodox communities (centers) and accessibility to those communities, whereas the "desert" location recommended itself for its isolation and insulation from the jurisdictional squabbles of that time, from which this trail-blazing monastery wanted to stay away. Besides, the desert was more conducive to the contemplative life of a monastery, and Sister Ileana was attracted towards something she never had in her life: solitude. In the end, practical considerations prevailed and the present location in Pennsylvania was chosen.

From the very beginning, Mother Alexandra would be the heart and soul and the driving motor which carried the project of the monastery from its inception to its completion. Most of the money to purchase the property in Ellwood City and to build the monastery came from Mother Alexandra's (Sister Ileana's at that time) own pockets. She believed in backing up her dream with her own resources, limited as they were.

Founding Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1967

After the tonsure, Mother Alexandra (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) moved back to the United States of America, and she founded the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration at City, Pennsylvania, the first English language Orthodox monastery in North America. In doing so, she was the third female descendant of [Queen Victoria] to become an Orthodox Christian [Abbess] in a monastery of her own foundation. The others were Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, (later Abbess Elisabeth, and Saint Elisabeth), and Princess Alice of Battenberg (mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh). She served as abbess until her retirement in 1981, remaining at the monastery until her death.

Slowly, through Mother Alexandra's relentless efforts, the Monastery of the Transfiguration took shape and began functioning as a religious institution. A year after its founding, in September of 1968, the chapel of the monastery was consecrated by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Iriney, and six months later, Mother Alexandra was appointed Mother Superior of the Monastery and invested as such by His Grace, Bishop Valerian on March 25, 1969. Building the community of nuns which the Monastery of the Transfiguration is today was not an easy task to accomplish. Postulants would come and go and at times she felt all alone, but she did not give up. Today, the Monastery of the Transfiguration is a viable, first of its kind institution, an all-American, English-speaking monastery in the United States, a part of the Orthodox Church in America and under the canonical obedience to Bishop Nathaniel, a religious institution in which any and all ethnic groups may feel at home.

Princess Ileana dedicated the last 30 years of her life to her Church, a dedication in which she found the, peace of mind she had been seeking. But they had also been physically stressful years, conquered only by her indomitable spirit to overcome physical pain and adversities. However, in July of 1981, because of ill health and failing strength, she most humbly requested Archbishop Valerian to release her from the responsibilities incumbent upon the Office of Abbess.

In an interview published in The Ellwood City Ledger, Grace Rischell described Mother Alexandra as "a woman with definitive ideas. In an age of situational and relative morality, she has something people don't mention much anymore: character. Her concepts about what is right or wrong are clear and steadfast." I found this to be a most accurate description of Mother Alexandra.

When she became Sister Ileana the title "Princess" became a thing of the past, but only for the profession she had embraced. The true-blue, royal blood of a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria could not be changed by the new habit she wore, nor did our people think otherwise. For them, she continued, and continues to be a Domnitza, a Royal lady with capital letters.

Abbess Benedicta (Braga), 1981

In 1981, the Nun Benedicta (Braga) was elected to succeed Mother Alexandra as abbess. Mother Benedicta had arrived in the USA from Romania in 1978, when she entered Holy Transfiguration Monastery and became a member of the sisterhood.

In 1964, the property in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, was purchased ; and in 1967, after Sister Ileana was tonsured into the monastic life as Mother Alexandra, she returned to Ellwood City to remain and establish the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Ellwood City

The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ was founded in 1967 by Mother Alexandra (the former Princess Ileana of Romania) whose dream it was to provide a place where American Orthodox women from all ethnic backgrounds could come to live the monastic life and benefit from a liturgical cycle in English. Since that time, her vision has been fulfilled. The nuns, the majority of whom are converts to Orthodoxy, as well as the monastery’s many visitors, span a variety of backgrounds. We welcome a great number of non-Orthodox visitors as well.

Mother Alexandra was the first Abbess, followed by Mother Benedicta who arrived in 1978 from Varatec Monastery in Romania. Under Mother Benedicta’s leadership, a complete cycle of liturgical prayer was established and the strong monastic tradition she had lived in her homeland took root as well.

Archimandrite Roman (Braga)

[In 1983, https://orthodoxcanada.ca/index.php?title=Archimandrite_Roman_(Braga)&action=edit&section=12 Father Roman (Braga)] was assigned to serve as the spiritual father and serving priest at Holy Transfiguration Monastery. He was a younger brother of Abbess Benedicta.

Founding of Holy Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery, 1987-1988

In 1987, Mother Benedicta (Braga) and the nuns Gabriella and Apolinaria received the blessing from Bishop Nathaniel (Popp) to leave the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, to move first to Terre Haute Indiana, and later to Rives Junction, Michigan, and to found the Holy Dormition of the Mother of God Orthodox Monastery in 1988.

Abbess Christophora (1987)

Later in 1987, Mother Christophora was elected from amongst the nuns to become the next abbess of the community. In 2025, she was still the abbess, and the community had grown and developed well under her care.

In 1988, Archimandrite Roman (Braga) received the blessing to retire from active service, and to move to the monastery of the Holy Dormition in Rives Junction, Michigan.

Mother Alexandra lived to see Communism fall in Romania in 1989. Then, in September, 1990, at the age of 81, she was able to make a return visit (together with her daughter, Sandi) to her homeland, Romania. That was her first visit since 1948, and she was able to visit and pray at the graves of her parents.

On 3-5 January, 1991, she suffered a broken hip in a fall on the evening before her 82nd birthday ; and while she was in hospital, she suffered 2 major heart attacks.

She reposed in Christ 4 days after the foundations had been laid for the expansion of the monastery. At the time of her repose, she was the last surviving child of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Marie of Romania.

Repose, 1991

Mother Alexandra reposed in the Lord on 21 January, 1991 surrounded by her worldly and spiritual family. She had had another heart attack.

The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Monk were offered for her in the monastery chapel.

Following the funeral obsequies, her body was taken in procession to the monastery cemetery, where it was interred.

She had requested the following verse to be on her gravestone : “None of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord, so then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:7).

Reflections

On the 25th anniversary of the repose of Mother Alexandra, the date was specially commemorated. She had begun life as Princess Ileana of Romania. She arrived in America, pawned her jewels, and founded Holy Transfiguration Monastery near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The monastery's journal on this occasion featured writings by Mother Alexandra. The following is one of them, found handwritten in a notebook :

 I sometimes think we give too much importance to our outward attitude of prayer.  We expect too much emotionally
 of ourselves, much more than God is asking for. 
 God is only asking us to remember Him at all times, in good and bad periods to offer Him this moment of our time --
 this moment, not the following one.  The present is what He asks; not in great gestures of surrender, but in a 
 continual natural stream even as we breathe. 
 The great moments will then be vouchsafed us by Divine grace when we are reaching for them, when prayer 
 quickens into a life of its own and carries us with it to unexpected heights, and above all peace and joys. Prayer 
 carries us -- not we our prayer.

Mother Alexandra’s (Princess Ileana) personal papers (including family correspondence and photographs) are preserved in the “Queen Marie of Romania Papers” collection in the library of Kent State University (Kent, Ohio, USA), and also in the “Mother Alexandra Papers” collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA). In addition, her correspondence with the Romanian diplomat George I Duca between 1924 and 1985 is preserved in the “George I Duca Papers” collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA).

Some major family events

• Eldest son Stefan suffered a debilitating illness in 1961, and it required extensive nursing, which his wife and his mother provided.

• Eldest daughter Marie Ileana and her husband were killed in a plane crash in Brazil, along with their unborn second child. They left an infant orphaned daughter.

• Son Dominic was awarded retroactive rights to Bran Castle in May, 2006, by the Romanian authorities as inheritance from his mother.

Writings

• The Child with the Blue Eyes (story about Princess Ileana by Queen Marie of Romania, 1931)

• Toledo Town Hall Lecture Series (brochure listing a lecture to be given by Princess Ileana, 1951)

• I Live Again {book by Princess Ileana, 1951)

• I Was a Princess - Part 1 (Ladies' Home Journal, December, 1951)

• I Live Again - Part 2 (Ladies' Home Journal, January, 1952)

• I Live Again - Part 3 (Ladies' Home Journal, February, 1952)

• I Live Again - Part 4 (Ladies' Home Journal, March, 1952)

• I Live Again (Omnibook Magazine, July, 1952) Hospital of the Queen's Heart (book by Princess Ileana, 1954)

• Outline of Romanian Literature (chapter from World Literatures, 1956)

• Newton's Royal Princess to 'Sell' U.S. in England (The Boston Sunday Herald July 7, 1957)

• The Spirit of Orthodoxy (by Princess Ileana of Romania)

• Father (by Mother Alexandra (Princess Ileana))

• Introduction to the Jesus Prayer (by Princess Ileana, 1959)

• Romania (book preface by Princess Ileana, 1959) Former Romanian Princess Finds Life is Richer as a Nun (Associated Press article)

• The Princess Abbess (article from The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 January, 1990)

• Ileana of Romania, Who Became Nun, Dies at 82 (New York Times Obituaries, 2 January, , 1991)

• Her Articulate Voice Proclaimed the Message of Orthodoxy (Solia–The Herald, March, 1991)

• IN MEMORIAM Princess Ileana–Mother Alexandra (RAHC Information Bulletin, Jan-Feb, 1992)

• To the Best of My Lights: The Mother Alexandra Memorial Lecture (St. Nina Quarterly, Winter, 1998)

• Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania (The Story of Mother Alexandra) (book by Bev. Cooke, September, 2008)

• Principesa Ileana - Copila cu ochi albaştri (Formula AS Magazine November, 2010)

________________________________________ Princess Ileana of Romania Gallery

Castelul Bran

 Monastery of the Transfiguration

 Marie – Regina Maria of Romania

 Sylva – Regina Elisabeta of Romania

 Romania

PRINCESS ILEANA (PRINCIPESA ILEANA) OF ROMANIA BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Authored by Princess Ileana

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• “The Holy Angels” (Mother Alexandra (Princess Ileana of Romania)) (Copyright 1981 by Mother Alexandra ; Minneapolis, Minnesota : Light and Life Publishing Company, 1987). ISBN : 0-932506-10-0

• “]https://tom-kinter.stelea.ro/PrincessIleana/HospitalQueensHeart/index.html Hospital of the Queen's Heart]” (Ileana Princess of Romania) (New York, New York : Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1954)

• “Live Again” (Ileana Princess of Romania) (New York, New York : Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1951)

• “[Introduction to the Jesus Prayer]” (H.R.H. Princess Ileana of Romania) (Austin, Texas : Forward Movement Publications, 1959]

• “Meditations on the Nicene Creed” (Ileana Princess of Romania) (New York, New York : Morehouse-Gorham Co., 1958)

• “Our Father - Meditations on The Lord's Prayer” (Princess Ileana of Romania Mother Alexandra) (Miami, Flordia : The Orthodox Book Center, 1960)

• ‘Outline of Romanian Literature’ (Princess Ileana) in “World Literatures” (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : University of Pittsburgh Press, 1956)

• “The Spirit of Orthodoxy” (H.R.H. Princess Ileana of Romania) (Boston, Massachusetts : The Advent Papers)

• “[Traiesc din nou (I Live Again)]” (Principesa Ileana de Romania, traducere de Agra Baroti-Gheorghe) (Bucureşti, Romania : Humanitas, 1999). ISBN : 973-28-0228-6.

• “[Traiesc din nou (I Live Again)], Editia II” (Principesa Ileana de Romania, traducere de Agra Baroti-Gheorghe, prefata de Al. Paleologu) (Bucureşti, Romania : Humanitas, 2005). ISBN : 973-50-1026-7.

====================================================

Other Authors

====================================================

“Bran Castle - Residence of Queen Maria and Princess Ileana”

   Narcis Dorin Ion
   Editura Tritonic, Bucureşti, 2004
   ISBN 973-8497-77-9

“Castelul Bran - Reşedinţă a reginei Maria şi a prinţesei Ileana”

   Narcis Dorin Ion
   Editura Tritonic, Bucureşti, 2003
   ISBN 973-8497-52-3

“Ileana, l'archiduchesse voilée”

  Jean-Paul Besse
  Via Romana, Versailles, 2010
  ISBN 978-2-916727-74-5

“Poems from Communist Prisons”

   Collected by Zahu Panǎ
   Translated by Mother Alexandra (Ileana, Princess of Romania)
   Editura Cuvântul Românesc, Hamilton-Canada, 1985
   ISBN 0-919871-02-X
  

“Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania (The Story of Mother Alexandra) ”

   Bev. Cooke
   Conciliar Press, Ben Lomond, 2008
   ISBN: 978-888212-32-7

“Royalty - a Page of Romania's History”

   Iulian Voicu & Emanuel Bădescu
   Alcor Edimpex SRL, Bucureşti, 2003

====================================================

Periodicals

====================================================

Royalty Digest - A Journal of Record

   Church Street, Ticehurst, East Sussex, TN5 7AA United Kingdom
   http://www.picrare.com/Royalty_Digest

References

Holy Transfiguration Monastery biography

Wikipedia biography

Orthodoxchristian.com “Royal Lady, Pious Nun—Princess Ileana–Mother Alexandra” (1992/2016)

Unofficialroyalty.com biography

Orthodoxyinamerica.org biography

Web-site about Princess Ileana

Additional information :

Holy Transfiguration Monastery web-site

Unofficialroyalty.com biography of King Ferdinand

Unofficialroyalty.com biography of Queen Marie

Wikipedia article about Romania in World War II

Queen Marie of Romania visits Seattle on 4 November, 1926

‘Queen Marie in America – 1926’ in “The Romanian Cultural Institute” (11 November 2020)

‘Queen Marie of Romania's 1926 visit to Oregon’ in “Oregon Encyclopaedia”.

Marie, Queen (1934). The story of my life [by] Marie, queen of Romania. State Library of Pennsylvania. C. Scribner's sons. p. 521.

Pribich, Kurt (2004). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich (in German). Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs. p. 279.

Pribich, Kurt (2004). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich (in German). Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs. p. 106.

“A Balkan Soap Opera: The Broken Engagement of Princess Ileana of Romania & Count Alexander von Hochberg, Baron zu Fürstenstein”.

“Glamorous Royal Wedding 1931”. British Pathe News.

Pakula, Hannah (1985). “The last romantic : a biography of Queen Marie of Roumania”. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-78598-2.

Middleton, Christopher (11 May 2014). “Buy a stake in Dracula's castle”. Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.

“Mother Alexandra”. The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration.

“Queen Marie of Romania Papers”. Department of Special Collections and Archives. Kent State University Libraries and Media Services.

“Mother Alexandra Papers”". Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

“George I. Duca Papers”. Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

“Arhiducesa Maria Magdalena a Austriei, In Memoriam | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania”.

“Princess Ileana of Romaia / IN MEMORIAM Princess Ileana–Mother Alexandra”.

“Princess Ileana of Romania / I Live Again - Chapter 27”. Archived from the original on 2007-12-11.

“The Very Reverend Abbess Mother Alexandra (Nee H.R.H. Princess Ileana of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen of Romania)”.

“Princess Ileana of Romania / I Live Again – Dustjacket”. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19.

“Princess Ileana of Romania / I Live Again - Chapter 3”. Archived from the original on 2014-12-04.

Interview of Mother Christophora by Matushka Valerie Zahirsky (2012)

Video : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vsnGaB6C3s Mother Alexandra (Princess Ileana of Romania) on News Talk with Lynn Cullen\ (1990)