On the feast of the Life-Giving Trinity, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy and Great Vespers in the main church of the southern capital

June 23, 2024 is the day of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost, the remembrance of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, mitered Archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Alma-Ata Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), cleric of the Ascension Cathedral, head of the Metropolitan District’s public relations department Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; acting rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports, Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), dean of the Ili Church District, Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, keymaster of the Peter and Paul Church of Alma-Ata, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, 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; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Alexander Piven.

Those who prayed during the service were: the head of the public foundation “Apostle Fund” G.G. Sosnovsky; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, numerous parishioners.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District (regent - Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster - V. Dudareva) and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (regent - N. Zubrevich).

In accordance with the liturgical Rules, during the Liturgy of the Feast of Pentecost, special antiphons are performed, consisting of prophetic psalms: on the 18th “The heavens will tell the glory of God, but the firmament proclaims His handiwork” with the refrain “Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Oh Savior, save us”, on the 19th “ The Lord will hear you on the day of sorrow" with the refrain "Save us the Good Comforter, who sing to You: Hallelujah" and on the 20th "Lord, in Your power the king will rejoice" with the refrain - the troparion of the holiday "Blessed art thou, O Christ our God, who is wise fishers of phenomena" . Instead of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn is sung at the Liturgy: “The Elites were baptized into Christ...”, in remembrance of the ancient tradition of baptism of catechumens on this day. The apostolic reading at the Liturgy contains a story about the very event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11). The Gospel reading (Gospel of John chapter 7, verses 37 to 52; chapter 8, verse 12) contains the Savior’s promise to send down to all “spiritually thirsty” people the quenching grace of the Holy Spirit, which should be poured out through those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to receive it. the whole world.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Archpriest Evgeniy Ivanov.

Numerous communicants began to partake of the holy Mysteries of Christ.

Following the prayer behind the pulpit, the ark with the relics of the apostles of Christ was carried from the altar to the middle of the temple.

At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander led Great Vespers, with the reading of the kneeling prayers of St. Basil the Great.

At the beginning of Vespers, the prayer to the Holy Spirit “Heavenly King” was sung publicly. According to the liturgical Rules, the usual petitions of the Great Litany are supplemented by special appeals “about those who are coming and awaiting the grace of the Holy Spirit”, “about those who bow their hearts and knees before the Lord”, etc. the great prokeimenon was performed: “Who is the great God like our God? You are God, work miracles."

The main feature of the Great Vespers of Holy Pentecost is the reading of the kneeling prayers compiled in the 4th century by St. Basil the Great. In the first prayer offered to God the Father, believers confess their sins, ask for their forgiveness and grace-filled heavenly help against the machinations of the enemy. In the second, believers ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, instructing and strengthening them in keeping the commandments of God to achieve a blessed life. In the third, addressed to the Son of God, who fulfilled all the care (economy) of the salvation of the human race, the Church prays for the repose of our departed fathers and brothers. This prayer contains a petition “for those kept in hell” and for the Lord to rest them “in a bright place, a green place, a cool place.”

The festive vespers concludes with a special dismissal: “He who depleted Himself from the Father’s and Divine bosom and descended from Heaven to earth...”. In his introductory phrase, which is very voluminous in content, all the saving actions of the Lord are glorified, starting with the Incarnation of God, ending with Death on the Cross and the sending of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

After the proclamation of many years to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', the Eminence Archpastors of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, the President, the authorities, the army and the entire people of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander addressed those gathered with a sermon.

According to an ancient custom dating back to Old Testament times, on the feast of Pentecost the temple was decorated with tree branches, plants and flowers. During the service, clergy and parishioners held flowers and branches in their hands, symbolizing the mysterious renewal of human souls by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The hierarch sprinkled the believers with holy water and spoke a word of teaching.

Representatives of the Semirechye Cossack Union, led by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov, a member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, took an active part in ensuring order and security.

The video recording of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photographic recording by information department employee A. Shcheglov.

“The Day of the Holy Trinity, the feast of Pentecost, fills the hearts of believers with special joy. We triumph from the realization that in response to church prayers, Christ gives us the Holy Spirit from the Father. The Comforter, the Heavenly King, whom we call upon, accomplishes our divine adoption, leads us to unity with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit brings about the unity of Orthodox Christians, who become one body, the Church, the Kingdom of God in this world. With the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the world, the mystery of the Life-Giving Trinity was revealed to people. Humanity has learned that Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, is one in His Essence, but at the same time He is threefold in Persons. We believe in One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we worship the Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity. But at the same time, our mind is not able to comprehend this sacred and great truth. The Teacher of the Church, Blessed Augustine, in his outstanding spiritual work - “Confessions” - says that he thought a lot about the Holy Trinity, really wanted to, but could not comprehend this mystery. One day he went for a walk and came to the seashore. There he saw a little boy who dug a hole in the sand and began to carry handfuls of sea water into it. St. Augustine began to watch the boy and finally asked what he was doing. The boy replied that he had dug a hole in the sand and was now carrying water to bring the sea into his hole. Blessed Augustine was surprised at the child’s lack of understanding and exclaimed: “Don’t you understand that it is impossible to pour the sea into a hole, it cannot contain the sea!” Then the boy, who was actually an angel sent to enlighten Augustine, answered: “How do you want to contain the ocean of the Holy Trinity in your mind?” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.