The Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the coming Holy Pentecost

March 20, 2024 – Wednesday of the first week of Lent.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory Dvoeslov in the upcoming Holy Pentecost at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was concelebrated by: the confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Archpriest Vyacheslav Churbanov, the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports, Abbot Philip (Moiseev), Archpriest Alexander Ievlev, deputy keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral, Priest Andrey Shklyar, head of the Metropolitan Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Andrey Pleten, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Hierodeacon Sophonia (Mazurenko), Deacon Alexander Piv yen.

Those who prayed at the Liturgy were: Secretary of the Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, member of the Church and Public Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for the development of Russian church singing O.N. Ovchinnikov; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration and parishioners.

The choir of the Ascension Cathedral sang under the direction of N. Zubrevich. The chant “Let my prayer be corrected” was performed by Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin and Alexander Plotkin.

The sermon before communion was delivered by Archpriest Alexander Ievlev.

After the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the clergy and laity on the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the coming Holy Pentecost and addressed those gathered with words of archpastoral teaching.

“We know that eternal life is achieved by love for God and love for neighbor, but the Lord Himself revealed to us another great truth: divine food leads a person to the Kingdom of Heaven - the holy life-giving Mysteries of Christ - the most pure Body and Blood of our Savior. Participation in the sacrament of Communion is a source of virtue and an effective means of getting rid of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). It is impossible, looking from the outside, to feel those grace-filled gifts, to receive that consolation and help from the Lord, which is given to a believer by the correct observance of fasting, frequent visits to the temple of God, and participation in the sacraments. Personal spiritual experience cannot be replaced by any efforts of the mind, tension of the will or attention of the senses, for “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). “Taste and see how good the Lord is!” (Ps. 39:9), - in the words of the Psalmist David, the Church of Christ calls us to join the real, authentic spiritual life.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.