The Day of Remembrance of the Holy Martyr Pimen, Bishop of Vernoye and Semirechensk, was honored in Alma-Ata

September 16, 2024 is the day of remembrance of Saint Pimen, Bishop of Vernoye and Semirechensk, the first martyr for Christ on the land of Kazakhstan, and the celebration in honor of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Alma-Ata.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Administrator of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, led the Divine Liturgy in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Alma-Ata.

His Grace was assisted by: Archpriest Alexander Sokolov, Priest Alexander Alferov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Cleric of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in the Southern Capital Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), Deacon Andrei Plakhuta.

The following prayed at the Liturgy: Abbess of the Iversko-Seraphimovsky Convent Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) with the nuns of the convent, employees of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration, pilgrims and parishioners of the church.

The choir of the St. Sophia Cathedral sang under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

At the funeral litany, the elder-saint Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), the Kazakh hierarchs and clergy and all Orthodox Christians "who were tortured and killed by the atheists during the time of fierce persecution, died from hunger, cold, wounds, illness and backbreaking labor" were remembered.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the glorification of the holy martyr Pimen took place, after which the archpastor delivered a sermon on the significance of the feat of the sufferers of Christ in the 20th century for the historical destinies of the Russian Orthodox Church and on the importance of venerating the new martyrs and confessors in the spiritual life of every believer.

On the same day, Bishop Gennady led a prayer service at the site of the martyrdom of the holy martyr Pimen in the Baum grove.

The following people prayed at the service in memory of the first sufferer for Orthodoxy in the land of Kazakhstan: vicars of the Astana diocese - Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov); dean of the churches of Alma-Ata, rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov, clergy of the churches of the Alma-Ata diocese.

Teachers and students of the Orthodox parish school named after the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, students of Sunday schools of the Southern capital, parishioners of the Alma-Ata churches gathered to honor the memory of the holy martyr Pimen.

Before the beginning of the prayer service, the hierarch addressed the participants of the service with a sermon.

The choir of the clergy of the Alma-Ata diocese sang.

At the end of the service, His Grace sprinkled those gathered with holy water.