Metropolitan Alexander performed the Liturgy at the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Karabulak, celebrating the patronal feast day

July 17, 2024 is the day of remembrance of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers Emperor Nicholas, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy and Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the only church in Kazakhstan dedicated to the Royal Passion-Bearers at the metropolitan courtyard in the village of Klyuchi (Karabulak) in the Alma-Ata region.

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: the dean of the parishes of the southern capital, the rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the church in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine in the village of Arshaly, Archpriest Vladimir Zhuchkov, 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, cleric of the Alekseevsky Church in the village of Baiterek, Hieromonk Alexy (Samosenkov), rector of the Alexander Nevsky Church of the village Saimasai (Alexandrovka) priest Roman Klyuev, acting dean of the Talgar church district, rector of the St. Nicholas Church of the city of Talgar priest Kirill Freygang, protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, deacon John Churkin.

The following people prayed during the service: the abbess of the Iversko-Seraphim convent, Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) with the sisters of the monastery; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, headed by the secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; pilgrims from Alma-Ata, cities and villages of the Alma-Ata region.

The chants were performed by the choir of the St. Sophia Cathedral monastery under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Kirill Freigang.

After communion, a shrine was carried into the center of the temple - an ark with a stone from the execution room of the merchant Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg, where the Royal family suffered. The shrine was transferred to the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District in 2012 by Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye (now Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District).

The Liturgy ended with glorification of the holy Royal Passion-Bearers, after which many years were proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill; To the head, archpastors, clergy and flock of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; To the President, authorities, military and all the people of Kazakhstan.

During the singing of many years, Metropolitan Alexander made the sign of the cross over the clergy and believers, after which he addressed the parishioners with an archpastoral word.

In Kazakhstan, a temple in honor of the Royal Passion-Bearers was created with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan in the village of Klyuchi (Karabulak) in the Alma-Ata region. The church is a smaller copy of a temple in the Crimean city of Oreanda, associated with the fate of the Imperial House of Romanov. In 1843-1852, after Oreanda became the property of the imperial family, a palace was erected in Lower Oreanda, which burned down 30 years later. In memory of this sad event, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich founded the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on one of the hills in 1884. Famous architect, author of the Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol A.A. Avdeev prepared the project, and in 6 months the temple was built. It is made in the Georgian-Byzantine style. The magnificent mosaic icons and ornaments that decorated the interior were made in the workshop of A. Salviati. Such famous painters and ornamentalists as Prince G.G. Gagarin former Vice-President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, academicians D.I. Grimm, M.V. Vasiliev also took part in decorating the temple. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the temple was considered one of the most beautiful on the southern coast of Crimea. In this blessed place, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt served, here the venerable martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna fasted and received communion. Starting from Alexander III, the entire royal family, all the Grand Dukes and Duchesses came here to pray when they vacationed on the South Coast. The Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Klyuchi is decorated with paintings made by master icon painters from the city of Palekh (Russia, Ivanovo region) under the leadership of a member of the Union of Artists of Russia V.K. Kurilova. In 2014, a monument to the Reverend Martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna Romanova was erected on the square near the church.
Among the shrines of the temple is an ark with a stone from the execution room of the merchant Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg, where the Royal family suffered. The shrine was transferred to the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District in 2012 by Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye (now Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District).