Memorial Day of the Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral of the southern capital

May 25, 2024 is the day of remembrance of Saints Epiphanius of Cyprus and Herman of Constantinople, Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, miracle worker; memory of the discovery of the relics of the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the oldest church in the city of Almaty - the Cathedral in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

His Eminence was served by: dean of the churches of the southern capital, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, mitered Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Hieromonk Isaac (Istelyev), dean of the Ili church district, rector of the Assumption parish, Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov, clergyman of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), Deacon Konstantin Volnyagin.

A mixed choir sang under the direction of M.S. Chistyakova.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, glorification of the Bright Resurrection of Christ and prayer to the saints remembered on this day took place.

The archpastor sprinkled the believers with holy water and spoke a word of teaching.

Next, a funeral litany was served for the funeral in the necropolis at the altar of the Kazan Church.

“Today, illuminated by the joy of the Easter celebration, is marked by the remembrance of saints whose lives and works have special significance in the life of Orthodoxy. Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus became famous for his great zeal for the faith, love and mercy for the poor, and simplicity of character. He endured a lot of slanderers and envious people. For the purity of his life, the archpastor received the gift of seeing the influx of the Holy Spirit into the Holy Gifts during the Divine Liturgy.
Saint Herman is an outstanding church writer, interpreter of Holy Scripture and author of liturgical texts glorifying the saints of God and great church holidays. He left us a detailed interpretation of the Divine Liturgy.

Saint Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow, according to the memoirs of the chroniclers, was “the Sovereign of great reason and sense and wise mind,” “wonderful of great and many reasoning.” His talents and gifts manifested themselves with particular force during the Time of Troubles, when the Fatherland suffered many disasters, aggravated by foreign invasion. During this tragic period, the High Hierarch selflessly protected the Church and the state, defending Orthodoxy and the unity of the country in word and deed from enemies internal and external. The feat of saving the Fatherland for Saint Hermogenes was crowned with martyrdom. And subsequently, during the years of various disasters, the Orthodox people turned to the memory of the Patriarch-hero, calling on St. Hermogenes for help, believing in him as a warm man of prayer and intercessor before the Lord.

The Verkhoturye miracle worker, righteous Simeon, whose memory we also commemorate today, was greatly revered by the ever-memorable elder and saint, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), who in difficult situations always prayerfully turned to him for help. Vladyka Joseph said to his spiritual children: “How simple he is, Simeon of Verkhoturye! And what a saint he is! I always pray to him” and called him “inspector of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration.” Often the bishop wrote him a note in which he asked the saint a question or outlined some situation that was difficult to resolve at that difficult time, stood up for prayer and read an akathist to this saint. And this is how many problems were solved.” From the words of Metropolitan Alexander at the end of the Divine Liturgy.