On the eve of Great Victory Day, the clergy of Almaty, led by Metropolitan Alexander, laid flowers at the Glory Memorial in the park named after the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen (+VIDEO)

May 8, 2024. Alma-Ata. On the eve of the celebration of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, together with the clergy of city churches, laid flowers at the Memorial of Glory in the park named after the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen.

The solemn ceremony was attended by: vicars of the Astana diocese - Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; Secretary of the Kazakhstan 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; dean of the churches of the southern capital, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), heads of departments and commissions of the Metropolitan District in holy orders, dean of the church districts of the Alma-Ata diocese, rectors and clergy of churches in the southern capital, president of the public fund "Apostle" G.G. Sosnovsky, employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, students of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, representatives of the Cossacks, parishioners of the churches of the southern capital.

Metropolitan Alexander and the clergy laid a wreath from the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan at the memorial. The clergy sang Easter troparia. Prayers were offered “for the leaders and warriors who laid down their lives on the battlefield, those who died from wounds and hunger, those who were innocently tortured and killed in captivity and bitter labor, and all those who labored for the Victory and for all those who died in the hard times of war.”

The ceremony was attended by veterans of the Great Patriotic War and home front workers.

“Remembering the Victory in the bloody struggle to save humanity from total enslavement, we say a funeral prayer for all those who fell in battle on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, who died from wounds and hunger, who died during the blockade, who were tortured and killed in captivity. Our sincere gratitude, words of gratitude and good wishes to the veterans and home front workers who set an example of sacrificial service to the people. By paying tribute to everyone who worked for the Victory, we are laying a solid foundation for our connection with future generations. It is important that the memory of the tragic and glorious days of the Great Patriotic War is not limited to the external celebration of calendar dates. In his speech delivered on May 9, 1945, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I emphasized that Victory “carries a consciousness of responsibility, a consciousness of duty, a consciousness of responsibility for the present and the future.” New generations must worthily preserve the brotherhood bequeathed to us, sealed by the blood shed on the battlefields, and no matter how many years have passed since that distant time, the memory of this must remain in the hearts of the people, so that our children and grandchildren live in peace, harmony and friendship. We should all learn loyalty and courage from those who endured all the hardships and trials of war and won peace for the whole world.” From the words of Metropolitan Alexander.