Celebration of the holiday of Holy Easter. Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral in the southern capital

June 12, 2024 – celebration of Holy Easter.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the Easter rite at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Almaty.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was co-served by: vicars of the Astana diocese - Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; rector of the Almaty Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, head of the Metropolitan District’s department for public relations, keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Archpriest Valery Shavrin, dean of the Ili church district, Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, rector of the Paraskevi Church and Alexander Nevsky Church, Archpriest John Lopatin, keymaster of the Assumption Cathedral in Astana, Archpriest Dimitry Baidek, vice-rector for educational work of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, Priest John Livinsky, 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; sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky, sacristan of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church, Priest John Konoplev, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Alexander Piven.

Liturgical chants were performed by the everyday choir under the direction of O. Solomonova.

The following people prayed during the service: employees of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration, students of the Central Sunday School, and benefactors of the cathedral.

By the beginning of the service, great shrines were delivered to the temple for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers: an ark with a part of the stone from the Holy Sepulcher and an ark with a part of the Robe of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, glorification of the Bright Resurrection of Christ took place, after which Metropolitan Alexander uttered the exclamation “Christ is Risen!” in different languages - ancient and modern.

His Eminence congratulated the hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity on the celebration of Holy Pascha and delivered a sermon.

“The Easter celebration, which we celebrate for forty days after the Holy Resurrection of Christ, reveals to us the highest meaning of human life - communion with the Truth about which the Savior Himself proclaims: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The guardian and interpreter of the fullness of Divine Revelation is the Church. It revives, strengthens and spiritually nourishes; she is our only reliable educator on the path to moral perfection and true happiness possible for a person on earth. Two thousand years of history of the Church of Christ testify to the fulfillment of the promise given by its Divine Founder: “I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). Let us be devoted to Christ not only in words, but in concrete deeds: remaining faithful to the Mother Church, striving to “have love one another” (John 13:35), encouraging our neighbors, forbearing to their weaknesses. Let us try not only within the walls of the temple, but also in everyday life to be pious and merciful, compassionate and long-suffering, ready for the unslothful gospel of the Divine Truth in the calling in which we are called (1 Cor. 7:20) by the Creator and Provider of the world. On the path of Christian achievement, difficulties and sorrows are inevitable, but let us remember the bold, encouraging words of the Apostle Paul: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13). The grace of the Lord's Passover is an inexhaustible source of salvation for man and the whole world for all times, for all generations. The Resurrection of Christ has equal power and significance both for His contemporaries and for us - those who glorify Him twenty centuries later." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.