Congratulations to Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the 35th anniversary of his archpastoral ordination from members of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan

To His Eminence, His Eminence ALEXANDER, Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan, Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church

Your Eminence, Most Reverend Bishop!

On September 27, 2024, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, you celebrate a significant date - the 35th anniversary of your archpastoral service.

The Synod of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, the clergy of the Metropolitan District, the monastics and Orthodox believers of our country ask you to accept warm and sincere congratulations along with heartfelt wishes for spiritual and physical strength, grace, mercy, peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Tim. 1:2).

Thirty-five years ago, during the Divine Liturgy in the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral in Moscow, when you were presented with the bishop's staff, you heard the words of advice addressed to you: "Be accessible to people, patient with the weaknesses of the servants of God subordinate to you. Do not rush to show your authority, punish, forbid. Fervor in any matter is undesirable, especially when it comes to the salvation of man. Try to reason, shame, soften the hearts of the guilty, and let sincere repentance be met with merciful and correcting love." All these years, which have become for you a time of fruitful church work, you have been a loving father of your flock - accessible to all people, patient with others, merciful to the repentant.

From childhood, your heart was filled with love for God and His Holy Church. It was pleasing to the Lord that you be raised and grown up in the traditions of Christian piety. In the depths of your soul, you have always heard the voice of the Savior calling: "Follow Me" (Luke 5:27). In those distant years, when Orthodoxy was under the yoke of the godless authorities, you were raised by clergy and church workers - confessors of the faith, who went through the crucible of trials. From them you received your first spiritual lessons and, inspired by their examples, grew and strengthened in faith.

The All-Merciful Lord called you to high church service at the height of your spiritual and physical powers, when you already had considerable life experience behind you. During your studies at the Theological Schools of the city on the Neva, you had the good fortune to closely communicate with outstanding hierarchs - the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) and the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Kirill of Vyborg, the current Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. For a long time, you served as a subdeacon under the elder-saint, Archbishop Meliton (Solovyov) of Tikhvin. He, being your spiritual mentor, passed on to you the testament of the righteous shepherd John of Kronstadt, which he heard in his youth: "Love the Church of God with all your heart." These words became the guide and motto of your entire life.

Piety and wisdom, devotion to the Church and the desire to alleviate its situation in every possible way under the oppression of the godless authorities, paternal care for priests, seminary students and the entire Orthodox flock - you learned all these lessons in your youth from your mentors, the archpastors who served in the northern capital of Russia. These wise saints were your teachers in faith, and they showed a high example of service to God and people. They not only raised you, but also helped you become a mentor to others, thereby fulfilling the command of the Apostle Paul: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Tim. 2:2).

After graduating from the theological school in the city of St. Peter, for ten years you diligently and responsibly performed church obediences in your small homeland - in the ancient Vyatka region, worked as a personal and diocesan secretary to the Most Reverend Bishop Chrysanthus (Chepil), later - the first Metropolitan of Vyatka, from whose hands you received the holy rank.

An attentive attitude to church-administrative duties, zeal in conducting divine services, and most importantly - a sincere and deep desire, as far as it was then possible, to develop the activities of the Orthodox Church, distinguished you in those difficult years. As a secretary of the diocesan administration, you gained unique experience in defending church interests, helping parish priests to carry out a saving mission in far from favorable conditions of administrative oppression and restrictions.

You developed and fully demonstrated these good qualities after your election to the ancient see of the saints of the God-protected land of Kostroma. In the city on the great Russian river Volga, you initially encountered the authorities' reluctance to take into account the life of the Church. And only thanks to your diligent work, wisdom, patience and courage, misunderstanding and rejection were replaced, with God's help, by mutual understanding and cooperation. With truly apostolic zeal, you began to revive church life in the central Volga region. Thanks to your tireless work, throughout Russia and far beyond its borders, they learned about the shrines of the Kostroma region, sanctified by the exploits of many venerable fathers, about the ancient spiritual and cultural traditions of the Northern Thebaid. From a young age, you had a reverent love for the Mother of God in your heart. Moved by this holy feeling and showing zeal for your God (Numbers 25:13), you revived the veneration of the great shrine of Orthodoxy – the miraculous Feodrov icon of the Queen of Heaven. The ancient icon of the Most Holy Theotokos became the “Great Pilgrim” – She visited a considerable number of dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church from the White Sea to the Pacific Ocean, where tens and hundreds of thousands of believers greeted Her unchanged.

The Lord called you to apostolic service during the years of church renewal and serious social changes. On the one hand, blessed times had come for preaching the Gospel and building up church life in all its diversity. On the other hand, our entire nation was experiencing difficult trials in the social, economic and political spheres. In these difficult circumstances, you with a strong fatherly hand guided the flock entrusted to your care in the raging sea of life.

In those fateful years for the Church and the country, in addition to your archpastoral labors, you performed many obediences, including the organization and development of the All-Church Youth Ministry and the creation of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs. The spiritual education of children and youth through their involvement in parish, diocesan and church-wide projects became a new direction in the life of Orthodoxy in those years. You successfully coped with the tasks set before you by the hierarchy, laying the foundations of youth ministry and giving impetus to its further development. Constantly learning and spiritually improving yourself, you taught the word of Christ's truth to your flock, "admonishing the disorderly, comforting the fainthearted, and supporting the weak" (1 Thess. 5:14).

All your ecclesiastical and administrative experience, accumulated during your archpastoral service, was fully manifested on the land of Kazakhstan. In 2010, a new glorious period began in your life – with the election of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod, you became the head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. You were imbued with a deep love for this blessed land, stained with blood and sanctified by the sufferings of the new martyrs and confessors of the last century. During the 15 years spent in Kazakhstan, you did not live a single day for yourself, did not spend it in idleness or rest. Your life is a regular visit to regional centers and remote villages, care for the multinational Kazakhstani flock, resolution of parish and diocesan problems and issues, concern for the well-being of the holy churches of God and monasteries, work in the field of church building, spiritual education and enlightenment. The numerous trips you make around the country, including its most remote corners, fill the hearts of people with enormous gratitude for your comprehensive paternal care and prayerful intercession for all of us. You have earned special gratitude from the people of Kazakhstan by establishing the tradition of bringing famous Orthodox relics to the country. This October, thanks to your care, all the dioceses of the Metropolitan District will be visited by the ark with the honest and multi-healing relics of the blessed elder Matrona of Moscow.

Your achievements during your leadership of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District are well known in the Orthodox world. Your efforts to organize church life in ten dioceses, active peacekeeping activities, significant contribution to the development of interfaith dialogue, and work to preserve historical and cultural heritage have earned recognition from the state authorities of the country. You have been awarded many orders and medals of the Republic.

All of the above describes only a small part of the work and care that fills your life. The full extent of your sacrificial service is known only to God alone. You give him honor and glory, always remembering the words of the prophet and psalmist David: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory" (Psalm 113:9).

On September 26, 1989, in your speech at the nomination of Bishop of Kostroma and Galich, you said that the modern conditions of church life require "from each servant of God a creative approach to the fulfillment of his duties: to proclaim the truth of Christ tirelessly, to be a stronghold of faith in Christ, a reliable support for the faithful, an adornment of the Church, to stand steadfastly in fidelity to the apostolic and patristic teaching." You yourself invariably strive for this and give us all a good example of life.

Today, millions of Orthodox believers in our country see you as their spiritual leader, sincerely pray for you and with all their hearts wish you good health and blessed success from our Lord Jesus Christ in your work for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

May our Lord and Giver of all blessings grant you many years, bless all your deeds and endeavors, accomplished for the glory of the Church of Christ and for the benefit of the people of Kazakhstan!

With reverent love in Christ,

Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko)
Archbishop Barnabas of Pavlodar and Ekibastuz
Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhty
Archbishop Amfilohiy of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk
Archbishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola
Archbishop Vladimir of Petropavlovsk and Bulaev
Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen,
Manager of the Affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District
Bishop Ignatius of Aktobe and Kyzylorda
Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese
Bishop Chrysanth of Chimkent and Turkestan
Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, Vicar of the Astana Diocese
Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau