The Head of the Metropolitan District performed Matins with the succession of the Holy Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty

On May 2, 2024, in the evening on the eve of Good Friday of Holy Week, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan in the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty performed the succession of the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ - Matins with the reading of the 12 Gospels telling about suffering, death on the cross and burial Savior.

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was concelebrated by: the confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov), the clergyman of the Ascension Cathedral of Alma-Ata, the head of the District's public relations department, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov and the cathedral clergy.

At the beginning of Matins, while singing the troparion “When the Glory of the Disciples,” the clergy brought the Holy Gospel from the altar and placed it on a lectern in front of the image of the Crucifixion of the Savior with the upcoming Most Holy Theotokos and the Apostle John the Theologian, installed in the middle of the temple.

Matins with the reading of the 12 Gospels is performed at the Cross and includes gospel narratives and hymns dedicated to the remembrance of the suffering on the cross and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The chants of the Sequence of the Passion were performed by the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of N. Zubrevich.

After reading the 5th Gospel, while singing the antiphon “Today hangs on the tree,” Metropolitan Alexander and the priests carried out from the altar arks containing a piece of the Life-giving Cross of Christ, a piece of the Crown of Thorns of the Lord Jesus Christ, a piece of the Robe of the Lord, pieces of stones from the Holy Sepulcher and Golgotha, a piece of the cross of the Prudent Thief, a piece of the column of flagellation, a piece of the stone of anointing, an exact copy of the nail with which Christ was nailed to the Cross. In Rome, 100 copies of the Calvary nail were made, each of which contained a particle of this great shrine. One of these nails was presented to Metropolitan Alexander. The great evangelical shrines were placed for prayerful veneration next to the Cross.

After reading the 10th Gospel, which tells about the removal of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross and the burial of the Savior by the righteous Joseph of Arimathea, the archpastor and clergy carried out part of the life-giving Holy Sepulcher from the altar. At the request of Metropolitan Alexander, the keeper of the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Sheikh Wajih Nuseibeh, gave the shrine as a gift to the Orthodox people of Kazakhstan, with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander addressed those present with an archpastoral sermon.

“Today, as we perform the Consequence of the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ - Matins with the reading of the 12 Gospels, telling about the suffering, death on the cross and burial of the Savior, mentally standing before the Cross of Christ, we remember at what high price we received salvation, at what sacrifice we were open to each of us the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven. For us, for all our sins and mistakes, for the atrocities and crimes of mankind throughout the history of the human race, the sinless Lord was nailed to the Cross. Listening to the Gospel conceptions, listening to the texts of the troparia and stichera, we remember the betrayal of Judas, and the threefold denial of the Lord by the Apostle Peter, and his sincere, tearful repentance; we have compassion for our Lord Jesus Christ, we contemplate the presence of the Most Pure Virgin Mary at the Cross, we see the daring feat of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, we are horrified by the malice of the scribes and Pharisees. We are witnessing how from His Cross the Savior, addressing his beloved disciple John the Theologian, said: “Here is Your Mother,” and to the Most Pure Virgin, pointing to the beloved Apostle, said: “Here is Your son.” By this, at the Cross of the Lord, at the altar of God’s love, the Mother of Christ became the Mother of all who believe in Her Son. With what thoughts, with what inner disposition should we approach the Cross, worship the Life-Giving Tree and the Gospel shrines? You cannot worship the Cross with malice; it is impossible to sympathize with Christ while having bad thoughts about your neighbors, resentment, irritation and anger. Worshiping the Cross of the Lord, chanting the suffering of the Savior, you need to ask yourself: “Who am I angry with? Who haven't I reconciled with yet? And who do I want to hurt?” And if there are answers to this question, then here, at the Crucifixion, ask the Lord for patience and strength not to do evil and to erase offenses from the heart. It is important that each of us, praying before the Cross of Christ, inherits the example of our Lord Jesus Christ in long-suffering and forgiveness, in love and mercy. It is necessary to imitate the Lord, who said the prayer for the crucifiers: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), we have sincerely forgiven all our offenders and enemies.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.