Metropolitan Alexander will lead the celebrations in honor of the Astana-Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God

On July 5, 2024, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, arrived in the capital of the Republic, the city of Astana, for the celebration in honor of the Astana-Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God.

On the eve of the celebration, in the Synodal Church in honor of the honored Astana-Pochaev image of the Queen of Heaven, the hierarch performed an evening service and glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos.

On the day of the holiday itself, July 6, the archpastor will lead the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Constantine and Helena in the capital. Starts at 8:30.

The Astana-Pochaev Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a list of the shrine of the Orthodox world, the revered shrine of the Russian Orthodox Church - the miraculous Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God. The copy of the revealed Pochaev icon was brought from Pochaev in the early 60s by the rector of the Constantine-Eleninsky Church in the city of Tselinograd (now Astana), Archpriest Nikolai Ivanenko. In the early 70s, the tradition of venerating the holy icon was continued by the outstanding shepherd and confessor of the faith, Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin). On June 4, 2011, at a meeting of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, chaired by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, it was established to celebrate the annual feast of the Astana Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary on July 6 in the new style.