In Almaty, the day of memory of the confessor of faith and ascetic of piety Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) was honored (+VIDEO)

September 4, 2024. Almaty. On the day of memory of the confessor of faith and ascetic of piety Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), a funeral litiya was held at the site of his burial in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent after the Divine Liturgy.

The service for the repose of the ever-memorable elder-saint was led by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

The following prayed at the litiya: vicars of the Astana diocese - Administrator of the affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Dean of the churches of Almaty, Rector of the Nikolsky Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov, Confessor of the Almaty Diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), rectors and clergy of the churches of the city of Almaty and nearby deaneries, Abbess of the Iversko-Serafimovsky Convent Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) with the nuns of the monastery; teachers and students of the parish Sunday school named after the Apostle John the Theologian, numerous parishioners of the churches of the Southern capital.

After the service, His Eminence laid flowers at the tomb of Metropolitan Joseph and gave a speech in which he recalled the life of the ever-memorable Alma-Ata saint, his suffering for Christ and his apostolic labors in Kazakhstan.

The memory of the Bishop-Confessor, who survived Stalin's camps, German captivity, harsh exile conditions, and then spent two decades performing the difficult hierarchical service in Petropavlovsk and Alma-Ata, is reverently revered by thousands of believers throughout Kazakhstan and beyond.

Throughout the day, hundreds of people visited the burial place of Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) in order to prayerfully honor the memory of the elder-hierarch, light candles at his tomb and lay flowers.

"In his life, Metropolitan Joseph survived several arrests, suffered abuse from the Gestapo and spent more than twenty years in camps and prisons. Following the Apostle Paul, he could repeat: "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus" (Gal. 6:17). Physical weakness, pain in the arms and legs for the rest of his life will become an indelible mark of the suffering he endured. The archpastor knew how to forgive, he preserved sincere goodwill; according to his contemporaries, he treated each person as a living image of God, thereby raising that person to an unprecedented height. Bishop Arseny, tonsuring the future hierarch into the mantle, told him: "As righteous Joseph fed all the people of Israel, so you must feed everyone." And Bishop Joseph carried this testament of his spiritual father throughout his life, feeding his flock with the imperishable words of the Gospel and generously distributing alms to those in need. Because of such a special attitude of the archpastor to people, both clergy and leaders of the Soviet government, both Orthodox and representatives of other religions, and simpletons and academics were drawn to him. Many memories of his insight and the great power of prayer have been preserved. For Metropolitan Joseph, there was no distinction between important and secondary matters in his pastoral work, since he saw the highest meaning in all aspects of the episcopal service, a connection with the mysteries of God's economy. Having venerated the Most Holy Theotokos from his youth, Bishop Joseph was honored to pass into eternal life precisely on the days of the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, as a faithful servant of Her Divine Son. Metropolitan Joseph taught the faithful the path to salvation in word and deed. In one of his sermons, he outlined the purpose of man in this world: "Christ constantly radiated love and mercy, and we must constantly sow affection, kindness, and compassion around ourselves. Christ resurrected the dead, and we must make every effort to awaken, resurrect the sleeping souls of our loved ones." Eternal and grateful memory to Bishop Metropolitan Joseph of Kazakhstan, hierarch, confessor, and righteous man." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.