Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in the St. Sophia Cathedral of Almaty

June 26, 2024 is the day of remembrance of the martyr Pelagia of Karaganda and the Venerable Alexandra of Diveevskaya.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was co-served by: vicars of the Astana diocese - Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop of Taldykorgan Claudian and Bishop of Talgar Benjamin; Bishop of Ural and Atyrau Vianor; rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, mitered archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Almaty Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, chairman of the Society of Orthodox Doctors of Kazakhstan Archpriest Anatoly Izmerov, dean of the Ili church district Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, Archpriest Alexander Sokolov, cleric of the Peter and Paul Church of Almaty Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, 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, vice-rector for academic affairs of the Alma-Ata Seminary, Priest Pyotr Bakhtiyarov, keymaster of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Priest Roman Burdukov, head of the correspondence department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev, keymaster of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata, priest Georgy Rublinsky, keymaster of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church, priest John Konoplev, priest Sergiy Abdulaev, protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, assistant of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, hierodeacon Mitrofan (Ognev), deacon Bogdan Boyko, deacon John Churkin.

The following people prayed during the service: the abbess of the Iversko-Seraphim convent, Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) with the sisters of the monastery; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, students of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, parishioners of the temple.

The chants were performed by the choir of the St. Sophia Cathedral monastery under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Daniil Bobylev.

At the end of the service, praise took place. From the altar to the middle of the church, during the singing of the troparion “Today the depths of the church are expanding,” a newly painted icon with particles of the relics of the venerable and blessed women of Diveyevo was carried. Hierarchs, clergy and believers sang the magnification of the Most Holy Trinity and the saints of God. The head of the Metropolitan District addressed those present with a speech in which he spoke about the history of the creation of the image.

Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky read out the letter of transfer of the icon to the St. Sophia Cathedral of the monastery for reverent storage and prayerful worship.

His Eminence sprinkled the participants in the service with holy water.

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 by information department employee A. Shcheglov.

The Holy Spirit descended on the Savior's disciples, spiritualizing, sanctifying and enlightening each of them. He generously endowed the apostles with gifts and talents that would be necessary for preaching the Gospel throughout the world and for building the Church of Christ on earth. The Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost on those who were gathered in the Upper Room of Zion and continues generation after generation to descend on everyone who joins the holy Church through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Let us remember that the Holy Spirit rests on each of us in an invisible but effective way, that we are called to be his worthy temples. May the life-giving Spirit of the Lord be a companion in earthly life for all of us. Let us, as often as possible, call on His gracious help on all paths of earthly life, ask Him for strength in the fight against sins and passions, and beg Him for consolation in moments of sorrow. The Spirit of God will always be with those who call on Him, for for this purpose He has endowed each of us with His grace-filled presence in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, in order to inseparably abide with us, to be for us a “Comforter”, “Treasure of Good things” and “Giver of Life”. From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.