On the day of remembrance of the three saints, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in Greek at the home church of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary

February 12, 2024 - celebration of the Council of Ecumenical Teachers and Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

The history of the establishment of the holiday dates back to the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, when there were disputes in Constantinople about the primacy of one of these church fathers. According to legend, in 1084 three saints appeared together to Metropolitan John of Euchaitis, a famous preacher and hymnographer, ordered to establish a common day to celebrate their memory, declaring that they were equal before God.

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.

His Eminence was served by: Acting Rector of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov, Vice-Rector for Educational Work of the Alma-Ata Seminary Priest Ioann Livinsky, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Alma-Ata Priest Pyotr Bakhtiyarov, Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the office of the theological school Priest Alexander Shishlov, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), Deacon Roman Karaman.

According to the tradition of theological schools, the Liturgy was celebrated in the native language of the three saints.

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; rector of the Alma-Ata Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" mitred archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, inspector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary priest Evgeny Bessonov, members of the teaching corporation and students of the seminary.

The choir of the St. Sophia Cathedral monastery sang under the direction of O. Usoltseva and the mixed choir of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary under the direction of K.V. Nikulina.

During the reading of the hours, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan tonsured senior APDS students as readers: Georgy Tkachenko, Alexander Goncharov, Mikhail Kalmykov, Vladimir Yudin, Ilya Vorobyov, Nikolai Tolmachev, Daniil Pasyuk, Vladislav Platonov.

His Eminence offered prayers for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest John Livinsky.

At the end of the Liturgy, glorification was performed before the icon of the saints of Christ, after which the Head of the Metropolitan District addressed those present with an archpastoral word about the significance of the exploits of the ecumenical fathers and teachers of the Church Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

Words of gratitude for the fatherly care of teachers and students were addressed to Metropolitan Alexander by the acting rector Archpriest Evgeniy Ivanov.