The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan led the service of the Most Blessed Saturday in the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty

May 4, 2024 – Great and Most Blessed Saturday of Holy Week. The Orthodox Church remembers the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ, the presence of His most pure body in the tomb, the descent of His soul into hell, the Savior’s victory over death and the deliverance of the souls of the righteous who awaited His coming with faith.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated Great Vespers in conjunction with the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was concelebrated by: the confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Archpriest Vyacheslav Churbanov, head of the public relations department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, member of the Patriarchal Commission for Physical Culture and Sports, Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), acting Rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; the head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), the 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 Zephaniah (Mazurenko), Deacon Alexander Piven.

The service of Most Blessed Saturday is unique, both in its theological content and in its structure. It begins with Great Vespers, which goes into the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Old Testament prophecies about the Resurrection of Christ are read. Instead of the Trisagion, a verse from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians is chanted: “As many as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” - “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal. 3:27), - since it was on this day in The ancient Church performed the sacrament of Baptism over the catechumens. The Apostle is read, in which the meaning and mysterious power of Baptism is revealed (Rom. 6:3-11). The reading of the Apostle ends the Sabbath day, dedicated to the burial of the Savior.

Before the Gospel reading, the hymn “Arise, O God, judge the earth” is solemnly sung. During the performance of this chant, the clergy change their dark Lenten vestments to white - festive ones. The decoration of the temple also becomes Easter. The re-dressing of the clergy is reminiscent of how in ancient times, after the reading of Holy Saturday, the newly baptized in white robes entered the church, and also symbolically points to the angels who preached the gospel of the Resurrection of Christ.

The Gospel is read (Matthew 28:1-20), which tells about the events of the Resurrection of the Savior.

The Cherubic song is replaced by a text that we hear only once a year: “Let all human flesh be silent, and let it stand with fear and trembling, and let it think of nothing earthly within itself; The King of kings, and Lord of lords, comes to sacrifice and give food to the faithful. And before Him came the faces of angels with all Principality and Power, the many-eyed Cherubim, and the six-faced Seraphim, covering their faces, and crying out the song: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.”

On Holy Saturday, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', a prayer for peace is read in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church for peace in the Holy City of Jerusalem and throughout the entire universe. At the end of the special litany, in the middle of the temple in front of the Holy Shroud, Metropolitan Alexander and the clergy prayed for the deliverance of the city of Jerusalem - a place dear to every believer’s heart, where the great events of our salvation took place - from wars, strife and civil strife, as well as for the cessation of all hatred and enmity in throughout the world and about increasing love in the hearts of people.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander performed the blessing of bread and wine as prescribed by the liturgical Charter. This blessing is performed annually in memory of how the ancient Christians, remaining in the church after the Liturgy until Easter Matins, strengthened themselves by eating consecrated bread and wine for the feat of vigil on this sacred and saving night.

On Most Blessed Saturday, after the end of the service, Orthodox Christians bring Easter cakes, Easter cakes and colored eggs to churches for blessing. The rite of blessing of Easter dishes in the Ascension Cathedral was performed by the Metropolitan.

The last Liturgy of St. Basil the Great this year ended with an archpastoral sermon.

During Holy Saturday, the Metropolitan visited a number of parishes in the southern capital. The head of the Metropolitan District checked the quality of preparation of churches and surrounding areas for the holiday and communicated with the clergy.

Metropolitan Alexander will perform the Easter service (midnight office, procession, matins and Divine Liturgy) in the main church of Almaty - the Ascension Cathedral. Starts at 23:30.