On the feast day of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in the main church of the Chimkent diocese, celebrating the patronal feast

May 22, 2024 - celebration in memory of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra in Lycia to the city of Bari.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan performed the Divine Liturgy in the main church of the Shymkent diocese - St. Nicholas Cathedral in the city of Shymkent, celebrating the patronal feast.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Bishop Chrysanf of Chimkent and Turkestan, Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, vicar of the Astana diocese, Archpriest Evgeniy Vorobyov, rector of the Almaty Church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Archpriest Evgeniy Vorobyov, rector of the Cosmo-Damian Church of Alma-Ata, Archpriest Georgy Chistyakov, rector of the Archangel Michael Church in the city of Chimkent Archpriest Andrey Lebedev, cleric of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Evgeniy Glushchenko, rector of the St. Nicholas Church of the city of Saryagash Archpriest Alexy Lazutin, cleric of the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the city of Chimkent, head of the press service of the diocese Archpriest Alexander Mogilevsky, head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan Hieromonk Prokh op (Endovitsky ), keynote of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Protodeacon Alexy Gorobchenko, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Bogdan Boyko.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander, at the beginning of the service, for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers in Chimkent, an ark with a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was delivered from the house Iversko-Seraphim Church of the Metropolitan Residence in Alma-Ata.

The choir of St. Nicholas Cathedral sang under the direction of E.V. Aleshina.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Georgy Rublinsky.

At the end of the Liturgy, the clergy glorified the Holy Resurrection of Christ and the Archpastor of Myra. The Metropolitan uttered the exclamation “Christ is Risen!” in different languages - ancient and modern.

Many years were proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill; To the head and episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, guests archpastors; To the President, authorities, military and all the people of Kazakhstan.

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District congratulated the bishops, clergy and believers on the Easter celebrations and on the bringing of the ark with the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to Chimkent and delivered a sermon.

Bishop Chrysanthos said words of gratitude to Metropolitan Alexander for the archpastoral visit and the opportunity given to the residents of Southern Kazakhstan to bow in prayer before the great Christian shrine - the relics of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia.

His Eminence heartily congratulated the rector of the Almaty church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” mitred Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, on the anniversary of his service in the priesthood. The hierarch wished the shepherd good health, mercy from the Lord and many years of standing before the throne of God and presented the holy prosphora.

“Today is a day especially beloved by Christians in the church calendar - we prayerfully and reverently commemorate St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, miracle worker. “Glorified Hierarch Nicholas in miracles, the Lord, both alive and after his repose,” the Holy Church sings the praises of this great saint of God. Saint Nicholas is loved not only by the Orthodox world. His name is known among many peoples in different countries, because he was given a special grace to quickly bring the prayers of those in need to the throne of God. We often turn to him in sorrows, in illnesses, in various difficulties and disorders. We appeal because we know how powerful his holy prayer is before the throne of God’s grace. While living on earth, the saint gave himself entirely to people, to the Church of Christ. He carried out his ministry with faith and truth, invariably setting a good example of true Orthodox shepherding. The Myra Hierarch gave everything he had - his human abilities, his talents, strength and time, his life - to Christ, whom he loved with all his heart. Love for God became for him a source of enormous love for his neighbor. We know about many miracles that his life tells about. The saint extended a helping hand to all those in sorrow and adversity, fervently prayed for those overwhelmed by adversity, saved the innocent from unjust trial and execution, and performed many other deeds for the benefit of his neighbor and for the glorification of the name of Christ. We call Saint Nicholas in the troparion, in the short hymn dedicated to him, “the rule of faith and the image of meekness.” The faith of St. Nicholas is called the “rule,” that is, it is faithful and perfect both in dogmatic terms and living, sincere and real in its manifestation through concrete deeds and actions. His life, his faith, meekness and piety, should become for us not only a subject of admiration and surprise, but the most direct guidance in everyday life. He was a good evangelical shepherd, simple and accessible. Anyone could come to him for consolation and advice. At the same time, Saint Nicholas was zealous and strict in everything that related to the Orthodox confession of faith, but, nevertheless, he put mercy at the head of his ministry. He was such that for centuries he remained in the hearts of people as a benevolent hierarch, doing good and good, calling on the mercy of God on everyone who asked him for help. Now in Heaven he prays to God for all of us, so that we may have unshakable faith in our hearts, so that we will rightly follow Christ’s teaching and be sons and daughters of the Holy Orthodox Church.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.