Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Church in the city of Talgar

June 21, 2024 – commemoration of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord; Day of Remembrance of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates, celebration in honor of the Yaroslavl Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in the name of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, in the city of Talgar, Alma-Ata region.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was served by: Rector of the Alma-Ata Church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “All Sorrowing Joy” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, Rector of the Epiphany Church of the village of Malovodnoye Archpriest Nikolai Tkachenko, Rector of the Alekseevsky Church of the village of Baiterek, Archpriest Anatoly Boyko, Archpriest Archpriest Vladimir Bartashevich, rector of the Spaso-Siluanova Issyk hermitage, hegumen Nazariy (Markov), rector of the Archangel Michael Church in the village of Turgen, hieromonk Varsonofy (Larionov), cleric of the Alekseevsky church in the village of Baiterek, hieromonk Alexy (Samosenkov), head of the personal secretariat of the metropolitan, hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Acting dean of the Talgar church district, rector of the St. Nicholas Church of the city of Talgar, Priest Kirill Freygang, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon John Churkin.

At the beginning of the service, an ark containing the relics of Saint Luke of Crimea was brought to the church for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers.

The chants were performed by the men's choir of the Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Pivny.

Residents of the city of Talgar and nearby settlements prayed during the service.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Georgy Sidorov.

At the end of the Liturgy, the glorification of the Ascension of the Lord, the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates and Saint Luke of Crimea was performed.

At the end of the service, the archpastor addressed those gathered with words of teaching.

The hierarch sprinkled the believers with holy water.