On the feast of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God, the Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the main church of the southern capital

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty, where the list of “measure in moderation” from the miraculous revealed image is kept.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Archbishop Amfilohiy of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, administrator of the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan; Bishop of Aktobe and Kyzylorda Ignatius, vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop of Taldykorgan Claudian; Bishop of Chimkent and Turkestan Chrysanf, vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop of Talgar Veniamin, Bishop of the Ural and Atyrau Vianor; dean of Almaty churches, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; dean of the Astana church district Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), rector of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), head of the department of education and catechesis of the Metropolitan District, rector of the Intercession Church and temple in honor of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos in Almaty, Archpriest Evgeniy Bobylev; clergyman of the cathedral, head of the public relations department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, acting Rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Hieromonk Roman (Chistyakov), rector of the Paraskevi Church Archpriest John Lopatin, cleric of the Nativity Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Gaichenya, rector of the Epiphany Church Archpriest Valery Shavrin, rector of the Spaso-Siluanova Issyk Hermitage Hegumen Nazariy (Markov), rector of the Iversky Church of the village of Boroldai Hegumen Filaret (Petrochen) co), Dean of the Ili church district Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, rector of the Alekseevskaya Church in the village of Baiterek Archpriest Anatoly Boyko, secretary of the Kostanay diocese Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha), keymaster of the Peter and Paul Church of Alma-Ata Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, rector of the Nativity of the Mother of God Church of the Akzhar microdistrict Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), rector Church in honor of the Epiphany of the Lord in the village of Malovodnoye Archpriest Nikolai Tkachenko, Vice-Rector for Educational Work of the Alma-Ata Seminary Priest John Livinsky, Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Alma-Ata Seminary Priest Petr Bakhtiyarov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District priest Georgy Sidorov; rectors of churches and clergy of the Alma-Ata diocese; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky.

Before the start of the service, for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers, a great shrine of Orthodoxy - an ark with part of the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary - was delivered to the main temple of the southern capital.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District (regent - Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster - V. Dudareva), the choir of the clergy of the Alma-Ata diocese, the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (regent - N. Zubrevich) and the combined children's choir of Sunday schools of Astana and Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of N. Golovina.

The following people prayed at the Liturgy: employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, Cossacks, Sunday school students and parishioners of the cathedral.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Archpriest Evgeniy Ivanov.

At the end of the Liturgy, the glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos took place in front of the ark with Her honorable Belt and the Theodore Icon of the Queen of Heaven, after which Metropolitan Alexander sprinkled those gathered with holy water and delivered a sermon.

Many years were proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' 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 cordially thanked the hierarchs, clergy, monastics and all participants in the celebration for the common prayer, congratulated those gathered on the significant event - the celebration in honor of the Theodore Mother of God and delivered a sermon.

The live broadcast of the Liturgy was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photographic recording was carried out by A. Shcheglov.

“Since apostolic times, the Christian world has revered icons of the Mother of God; According to church tradition, Her face was first captured by the holy evangelist Luke. Our pious ancestors were distinguished by their deep and sincere love for the Queen of Heaven, as evidenced by the many images of the Most Holy Theotokos, glorified by miracles in the Orthodox Church. Among them is a great shrine, the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, whose centuries-old fate is connected with outstanding and glorious events in church life and the Fatherland.
The history of Theodore’s image of the Queen of Heaven, which has been in Kostroma for about eight centuries, preserves the memory of many miracles, the gracious intercession and maternal help of the Most Holy Theotokos, revealed to Orthodox Christians. This great shrine is associated with famous ascetics of faith and piety, famous commanders and kings. The ancient Feodorovskaya icon was a prayer image of the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky; It was with this shrine that he was blessed for marriage; he was not separated from this revered face of the Mother of God, defending the western borders of the Fatherland from foreigners and traveling east - to the Golden Horde. After the repose of the holy Prince Alexander, in the early sixties of the 13th century, the Feodorovskaya icon was miraculously found by his younger brother Prince Vasily Yaroslavich in a forest near the city of Kostroma. The miraculous image was preserved by the power of God in the crushing fire that incinerated the city and gave the small Kostroma squad victory over the army of foreign invaders that had approached the city borders. In front of the Feodorovskaya icon, the holy noble Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy mourned the death of the defenders of his native land and prayed for salvation from the enemies of his son, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich. But even greater glory was brought to this shrine by the events that became a sign of the end of the mournful era of the Time of Troubles. In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected the young Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the throne of the Russian state. With this news, the cathedral embassy arrived in Kostroma, at the Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery, where at that time Mikhail Feodorovich was staying with his mother, the pious nun Martha. A crowded religious procession of Kostroma clergy and laity came to the walls of the monastery with the main shrine of the city - the miraculous Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. It was in front of this image of the Most Pure Lady that young Mikhail Feodorovich accepted the popular election to the Russian throne and with this icon his mother blessed him with the heartfelt words: “Into Your most pure hands, Lady, I commend my child; guide him on the true path, arrange something useful for him and all Orthodox Christianity.” Thus, in the Kostroma monastery, in the presence of the Queen of Heaven, along with the historical path of the royal Romanov family, the overcoming of the state unrest that tormented Rus' for many years began. The Feodorovskaya Icon became a particularly revered shrine for all subsequent generations of Russian autocrats, the last of whom, the passion-bearer Emperor Nicholas II, together with his august family, prayed before the revealed image in 1913. In the recent history of our Church, the veneration of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God by the Orthodox people has been revived. Millions of believers from the cities and villages of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, countries near and far abroad turn their gaze to this ancient image, calling for help in the name of the Sovereign Intercessor. From January 28 to February 1, 2009, the miraculous Feodorovskaya icon was in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the presence of this shrine, the election and enthronement of our Primate, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', took place. In 2015, the Feodorovsky icon visited Alma-Ata. Glorified by numerous miracles, the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Queen of Heaven is revered as the patron of family well-being, the birth and upbringing of children, and helps in difficult childbirth. Through prayers in front of this image, healings from serious illnesses, including infertility, are performed, of which there is real, documented evidence.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.