At the end of Bright Week, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy and the fragmentation of Artos in the Peter and Paul Church of the southern capital

May 11, 2024 – Saturday of Bright Week, the day of remembrance of the apostles Jason and Sosipater from the age of 70; Saint Cyril, Bishop of Turov.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the Easter rite in the Peter and Paul Church in Almaty.

His Eminence was served by: dean of the parishes of Alma-Ata, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, mitered archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Sorrow Church, Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, rector of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar, head of the Metropolitan District's public relations department, keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; Dean of the Ili Church District Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, Deputy Keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral Priest Andrey Shklyar, Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Keymaster of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty Priest Georgy Rublinsky, Keymaster of the Adriano-Natalievsky temple priest John Konoplev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Bohdan Boyko, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

The choir of the Peter and Paul Church sang under the direction of I.N. Korovina.

Using the communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov read out the Easter message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

At the end of the Liturgy, the glorification of the Holy Resurrection of Christ took place, after which the hierarch crushed the Holy Artos - the consecrated Easter bread and blessed it for the believers to eat, “for all who eat from it will be granted bodily and mental blessings and health.”

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District cordially thanked the rector, the clergy and all participants in the service for the common prayer and congratulated those gathered on the Easter celebrations.

Having shared Christ with the clergy and believers, Vladyka Metropolitan delivered a sermon.

In consideration of his work for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth, the Head of the Metropolitan District awarded Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar a high award - the Order of Merit for the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. The hierarch wished the shepherd good health, mercy from the Lord and many years of standing before the throne of God.

“Artos in Greek means leavened bread. This word refers to the special bread consecrated for the holiday of Holy Easter. Throughout Bright Week, Artos occupied the most prominent place in our churches along with the image of the Resurrection of Christ and was carried around the church in processions of the cross. Today, at the end of Easter week, it is split into parts and distributed to all believers. The use of artos dates back to apostolic times. We read in the Gospel that on the fortieth day after His Resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven. The disciples and followers of Christ found consolation in prayerful memories of the Lord. Gathering for common prayer, they remembered the Last Supper, partook of the Body and Blood of Christ and had a meal. They reserved a special place at such prayer meetings and meals for the Savior. At this place, as a sign of the Lord’s real presence among those who believe in Him, the apostles placed bread. Artos reminded all participants in the service about the words of the Lord, in which He called Himself the Bread of Heaven, who came down from Heaven. Imitating the apostles, the Church established that on the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, Artos should be placed in the temple, as a visible expression of the fact that the Savior who suffered for us has become for us the true Bread of Life and is inseparably with us. In the prayer for the consecration of this Easter bread, we asked the Lord that He would make everyone who ate from Artos partakers of heavenly blessing and remove all illness and disease from us by His power, giving health to everyone. Prayer requests for blessings and mental and physical health were also offered during its fragmentation. Let us carefully keep this sacred bread in our homes, and eat it with reverence and prayer to Christ the Giver of Life, for our sake crucified and risen for three days.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.