On the week of “the blind man,” Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at the Peter and Paul Church in the southern capital

June 9, 2024 – 6th week of Easter, “about the blind man”; the day of remembrance of Righteous John the Russian, confessor, and St. Ferapont of Monza, Galich; celebration of the discovery of the relics of St. Neil of Stolobensky.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Peter and Paul Church in Almaty.

His Eminence was served by: the rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the city of Alma-Ata, Archpriest Evgeniy Vorobyov, the rector of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar, the custodian of the Nativity Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Gaichenya, the head of the Metropolitan District’s public relations department, the cleric of the Ascension Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; Keymaster of the Peter and Paul Church Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, Deputy Keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral Priest Andrey Shklyar, Head of the Metropolitan's personal secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Keymaster of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church Priest Ioann Konoplev, Keymaster of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata Priest Georgy Rublinsky, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the service Metropolitan protocol Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Sergiy Abdulaev.

The choir of the Peter and Paul Church sang under the direction of I.N. Korovina.

After the Cherubic song, Metropolitan Alexander performed the priestly ordination of the cleric of the Peter and Paul Church, Deacon Sergius Abdulaev.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Andrei Shklyar.

The liturgy ended with glorification of the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ and the Monk Ferapont of Monza, after which Metropolitan Alexander pronounced the exclamation “Christ is Risen!” in different languages - ancient and modern.

At the end of the service, the Head of the Metropolitan District addressed the parishioners with an archpastoral word.

“Today, during the Divine Liturgy, an excerpt from the book of the Acts of the Apostles was heard - a story about the miraculous liberation of Christ’s disciples Paul and Silas from prison. The prison guard, the head of the guard, who first witnessed the fervent night prayer of the apostles, and then the earthquake that opened all the doors of the prison, and the inexplicable release of prisoners from their shackles, turns to Paul and Silas with the main question of his whole life. Sooner or later, this question arises before every thinking person. Bowing before the proclaimers of the gospel, the watchman asks, “What must I do to be saved?” And he hears a simple and, at the same time, exhaustive answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your whole house will be saved.” Man sincerely sought the meaning of existence, and the Lord, through apostolic instruction, opened the path to the Truth for him, opened the doors of salvation to him, pointing to the life-giving light of faith. “What is crueller, what is more severe than the prison guard,” asks St. John Chrysostom, reflecting on today’s apostolic reading, but this man, with a hardened heart, believed, rejoiced and accepted Baptism along with his whole house, with his whole family. The theme of spiritual insight and faith in Christ - the true Light, enlightening and sanctifying every person - continues in the beginning of the Gospel. The Apostle John the Theologian tells us about the Lord’s healing of a man blind from birth. The Savior gave the opportunity to see the material light and the surrounding world to a person deprived of this great benefit from the womb. But an equally important miracle is that the acquisition of sight was a step towards spiritual insight for the sufferer. He believed in the Son of God, and the scribes and Pharisees, who prided themselves on their knowledge of the Law and their knowledge of the finest details of Scripture and Tradition, remained spiritually blind, despite the fact that their physical eyes were sighted. Today, the word of God teaches us that only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ grants salvation in eternity, heals spiritual eyes from sinful darkness, illuminates the life path of a Christian like bright rays of the sun, helping to clearly see spiritual realities, distinguish good from evil, truth from lies, the imperishable and the eternal from vanity and futility.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.