Memorial Day of St. Peter of Moscow and Blessed Procopius of Vyatka. Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at the Matroninsky Church in Almaty

January 3, 2024 is the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ, the day of remembrance of St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, Wonderworker and Blessed Procopius, Christ for the holy fool of Vyatka.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Matroninsky Church of the Iversko-Seraphim Convent in the city of Alma-Ata, the home church of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary.

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: the head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), cleric of the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery, Hieromonk Arseny (Voloshin); Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), assistant of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration, Hierodeacon Mitrofan (Ognev), Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

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, headed by the Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov.

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

The archpastor offered prayers for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.

At the end of the Liturgy, glorification of the honored saints took place, after which Metropolitan Alexander addressed those gathered with words of teaching and congratulated everyone on the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ and the memory of St. Peter of Moscow and Blessed Procopius of Vyatka.

The Vyatka wonderworker and seer, blessed Procopius, rested in the Lord on December 21 (old style) 1627 and was buried in the Dormition Tryphon Monastery. His relics rest hidden in the southern part of the Assumption Cathedral.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, when he was secretary of the Kirov diocesan administration, in 1988 initiated the revival of the Assumption Trifonov Monastery - one of the oldest monasteries in the Vyatka region, built in the second half of the 16th century by the Monk Tryphon. For several centuries, this monastery was a significant spiritual, cultural and educational center of the region. The more than 300-year history of the monastery was interrupted after the October Revolution of 1917. On September 8, 1918, by order of the godless authorities, the Dormition Trifonov Monastery was liquidated. The churches and monastery buildings housed an archive storage, a laundry, a dining room, a bakery, a shoe workshop, various educational institutions, a dormitory and communal apartments.

In 1988, on the initiative of Archpriest Alexander Mogilev (now Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan), more than 12 thousand signatures were collected in support of the opening of the Assumption Cathedral. In April 1989, the Assumption Cathedral was transferred to the diocese for free use. Under the leadership of the diocesan secretary, day after day the believers cleared the territory of the monastery from ten-year-old rubble and worked to repair the church building.

In August 1991, the Kirov Regional Executive Committee adopted a historic resolution on the transfer of the entire ensemble of the Assumption Trifonov Monastery to the Kirov diocesan administration. Soon after this, the Assumption Cathedral was consecrated and became the cathedral church of the diocese. On September 25, 1991, the Holy Synod blessed the opening of the Holy Dormition Trifonov Monastery in the city of Kirov. Today, the Assumption Cathedral of the Trifonov Monastery is the oldest surviving Vyatka stone temple.