Celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy at the Church of Sorrows in Almaty

May 10, 2024 – Friday of Holy Week; celebration in honor of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Life-Giving Source” and the day of remembrance of the Apostle and Hieromartyr Simeon, a relative of the Lord..

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan performed the Divine Liturgy with the Easter rite in the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the city of Almaty.

According to ancient liturgical tradition, before the start of the Liturgy, a prayer service was served.

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was concelebrated by: the dean of the churches of the southern capital, the rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Sorrow Church, Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov; Archpriest Valery Shavrin, rector of the Epiphany Church of the Southern Capital; cleric of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Archpriest Sergius Desyatov; 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 correspondence department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev; sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon John Churkin and Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

The chants were performed by the temple choir under the direction of O. Solomonova.

Praying during the service were: Secretary of the Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, member of the Church and Public Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for the development of Russian church singing O.N. Ovchinnikov; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, philanthropists and parishioners of the Sorrow Church.

Using the communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov read out the Easter message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

The liturgy ended with the glorification of the Holy Resurrection of Christ.

The head of the Metropolitan District addressed the clergy and parishioners with a sermon, congratulating those gathered on the special celebrations - the Easter of the Lord and the feast of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Source".

The hierarch sprinkled the believers with holy water.

“Because of God’s boundless love for His creation, the Lord Jesus Christ “for our sake as man and for our salvation” became man, suffered and died on the Cross - so that, having taken upon Himself the sins of the world, He would be resurrected “for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Our reconciliation with God began with the birth of the Savior, it continued with the life of Christ, and was fulfilled with death and the Resurrection. According to the words of St. Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, “in the person of the risen Savior, all the greatness of the children of God lost in Adam was returned to us, everything necessary for inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven was given to us.” The God-Man, risen from the dead, became the New Adam, the Head of the renewed human race that He saved. The Resurrection of Christ opened the way to Heaven for us, and the Church now sings in the Easter canon: “For from death to life and from earth to heaven, Christ God has led us.” Easter assures us of the forgiveness that has shone upon humanity from the Life-Giving Tomb, and affirms the hope for a future general resurrection. According to the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa, “the present day is even more joyful than the future: then, of necessity, those whose sins will be exposed will cry, now there are no sad ones among us. Now the righteous man rejoices, and he who has not cleared his conscience has hope of being corrected by repentance. The present day will take away all sorrow, and there is no person who would not find consolation in the celebration of the holiday.” Our heart rejoices, our lips glorify the Risen Savior - but no words of earthly praise will be enough to fully thank the Lord for His ineffable mercy towards us.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.