In honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", the Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Pokrovsky Monastery of Uralsk

April 25, 2025 - Friday of Bright Week; celebration in honor of the icon of the Holy Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the Easter rite in the Feodorovskaya Church of the women's monastery in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God in the city of Uralsk.

In the center of the church, the coffin with the body of the newly departed Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko), who departed to the Lord on April 23, was installed.

According to the ancient liturgical tradition, a water blessing service was held before the beginning of the Liturgy.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was co-served by: Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Bishop of Uralsk and Atyrau Vianor; Rector of the St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Uralsk Archimandrite Feodosiy (Kuryanov); Rector of the Almaty Church in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov; Cleric of the Pokrovsky Convent in Uralsk Archimandrite Dionysius (Kozulev); Rector of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the capital of Western Kazakhstan Hegumen Ilya (Danileiko); Rector of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the city of Uralsk Archpriest Anatoly Robu; Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov; Deacon rank.

The choir of the Pokrovsky Convent sang under the direction of M. Martynova.

Those praying at the service were: the abbess of the Pokrovsky Monastery, Abbess Varvara (Morozova) with her nuns; parishioners of churches in the city of Uralsk, and pilgrims from surrounding settlements.

At the funeral litany, the Head of the Metropolitan District offered up fervent prayers for the repose of the newly departed Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko).

After the communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov addressed the worshipers with the words of the sermon.

The liturgy ended with the glorification of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, after which the Metropolitan pronounced the exclamation "Christ is risen!" in various languages, ancient and modern.
In his speech at the end of the Easter glorification, the Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the hierarchs, clergy and parishioners on the special celebrations – the Bright Resurrection of Christ and the feast of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” and thanked those gathered for their common prayer.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander performed a memorial litiya at the coffin with the body of the newly departed Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko). His Eminence addressed those present, gratefully recalling the labors of the late archpastor.

After the litiya, the hierarchs, clergy and believers sang eternal memory to the newly departed Bishop Anthony.