Ascension of the Lord. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the main church of the southern capital (+VIDEO)

June 13, 2024 – Ascension of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan led the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

The Ascension of the Lord is the patronal feast of the main cathedral of the southern capital, which is the spiritual, historical and cultural pearl of Kazakhstan.

One of the cathedral shrines is an ancient image of the Ascension of the Savior with a piece of stone from the Mount of Olives, on which the footprint of the Lord Jesus Christ was imprinted.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, manager of the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan; Vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop of Talgar Benjamin; rector of the Alma-Ata Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, mitered Archpriest Evgeniy Vorobyov, confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Archpriest Vyacheslav Churbanov, head of the Metropolitan District’s public relations department, cleric of the Ascension Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov , acting rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov, member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), Secretary of the Pinsk Diocese Archpriest Konstantin Balakai (Belarusian Exarchate), clergyman of the Assumption Cathedral in Astana Archpriest Dimitry Baidek, 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, head of the correspondence department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev, keymaster of the Adriano-Natali Church, Priest Ioann Konoplev, Priest Sergiy Abdulaev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon Alexander Piven.

At the beginning of the service, an ark with a piece of stone from the Mount of Olives, on which the footprint of the Savior was imprinted, was delivered to the main temple for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers. The shrine is a gift from His Beatitude Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem.

The following people prayed during the Liturgy: the abbess of the Iversko-Seraphim convent, Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina); President of the public foundation "Apostle" G.G. Sosnovsky; member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the Association of Russian Slavic and Cossack organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan V.A. Lukashev, employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, benefactors of the diocese, numerous parishioners.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District (regent - Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster - V. Dudareva) and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (regent - N. Zubrevich).

During the Liturgy, the following were especially remembered: Bishop of Turkestan and Tashkent Paisiy (Vinogradov), who consecrated the foundation of the temple in 1903; the architect of the cathedral, engineer Andrei Pavlovich Zenkov and architect Konstantin Arkadyevich Borisoglebsky; deceased builders, donors and decorators, clergy and parishioners.

The sermon after the communion verse was delivered by Archpriest Evgeniy Ivanov.

The liturgy ended with glorification before the icon of the Ascension of the Lord, after which a religious procession took place, at the end of which the Head of the Metropolitan District sprinkled the believers with holy water.

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

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity on the holiday, and delivered a sermon on the significance of the gospel event of the Ascension of the Savior into Heaven for the salvation of the human race.

At the end of the service, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan donated a unique shrine to the main church of the southern capital for the permanent stay and prayerful worship of believers - a skillfully made ark with the holy relics of the new martyrs and confessors of Kazakhstan.

Representatives of the Semirechye Cossack Union, led by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov, took an active part in ensuring order and security.

The video recording of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photographic recording - information department employee A. Shcheglov.

“Today we heard an amazing promise from the Lord that comforts us, encourages us and gives strength to the human spirit. These words of the Savior are sealed for all generations of believers in the Holy Gospel: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” What could be more joyful than this great truth? The Lord lives with us forever, He constantly dwells in His Church, which He founded. He gives Himself to Orthodox Christians in the Holy Sacraments, by participating in which a person partakes of Divine grace in a real, effective way. This is especially felt when, after sincere repentance, we approach the Cup of Life with humility and contrition of heart and partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord. It is at these moments that we reverently experience God’s closest participation in our destiny, gain our own spiritual experience, strengthen in faith and receive abundant joy from the fact that the Lord is with us. Indeed, Christ is in His Church, which He founded, which He acquired with His Blood, and which “the gates of hell will not prevail.” The Lord consoles us that after He ascends to Heaven, He always remains in His Church, saves us from all evil and raises us from earth to Heaven.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.