Feast of the Presentation of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty (+VIDEO)

February 15, 2024 – Meeting of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan led the festive Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was co-served by: vicars of the Astana diocese - the manager of the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; dean of the parishes of the southern capital, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, mitered archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the city of Alma-Ata, Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), head of the Metropolitan District department for public relations, custodian of the Ascension Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, cleric of the Peter and Paul Cathedral of the temple, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the correspondence department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev, keymaster of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District (regent - Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster - V. Dudareva) and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (regent - N. Zubrevich).

For apostolic reading on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, an excerpt from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews (Chapter 7, verses 7-17) was chosen, which speaks of the superiority of the Savior’s sacrificial service over the Old Testament Levitical service and the abolition, with the coming of Christ, of the establishments of the Law of Moses. The Gospel Conception at the Liturgy (Luke, chapter 2, verses 22-40) contains a detailed story about the Meeting of the Lord in the Jerusalem Temple.

Using the communion verse, Priest Daniil Bobylev read out the address of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' on the occasion of the celebration of Orthodox Youth Day.

At the end of the Liturgy, glorification of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord took place.

Many years were proclaimed to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; To the head, archpastors, clergy and flock of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; To the President, authorities, military and all the people of Kazakhstan.

Metropolitan Alexander sprinkled the worshipers with holy water, after which he congratulated the clergy and believers on the holiday and delivered a sermon.

The video recording of the service was made by the Orthodox television studio “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman - A. Schmidt); photographic recording was carried out by A. Shcheglov.

“Today we remember the Presentation of the Lord. The name of this evangelical event sounds Church Slavonic. And translated into modern language, it sounds, like “meeting”. Holy interpreters of the word of the Lord tell us that for righteous Simeon the meeting with the Lord was long-awaited and unspeakably joyful. Each of us also has encounters with God. Our first meeting with the Creator occurs when we, still babies, are brought to the temple, so that we become not strangers, but members of Christ, when the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are performed on us. Our meeting with Christ takes place whenever we participate in other faith-saving church Sacraments and especially when we confess sincerely, with a feeling of deep regret for our sins and with the heartfelt intention not to sin again. Anyone who has gone through this knows how the heart trembles from the feeling that the Lord is “near” our soul. And when we partake of the heavenly immortal life-giving Mysteries of Christ, following the call of the Church “come with the fear of God and faith,” the Lord Himself sanctifies the human being, transforms us and makes us feel how good He is. There are other meetings when a person reads the Word of God, and this or that phrase, a spiritual verb, enlightens his heart so much that his soul trembles from the presence of the Lord. The most important, most important meeting still awaits all of us - the meeting with Christ, the righteous Judge. Each of us will then appear before the truth of the Lord and everything that man has created will be revealed - good and bad. And God grant that this meeting be for us a meeting of unspeakable joy, because then the final fate of man will be determined. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap; with the measure he uses, it will be measured back to him. Did each of us desire goodness and truth, did we strive to fight sin and lawlessness, did we overcome temptations, or did we live dissolutely, contrary to the rules of the church, violating God’s commandments, neglecting Christ’s commandments. Therefore, while there is time, let each of us try to use these God-given days for the good and benefit of our immortal soul. He will try to work for that one great meeting that inevitably awaits all of us. And God grant that she be bright, joyful, good, kind and desired by us.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.