Feast of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Michael the Archangel Cathedral in the city of Kaskelen

August 10, 2024 - celebration in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called "Hodegetria".

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Michael the Archangel Cathedral in the city of Kaskelen, Almaty Region.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; Dean of the churches of Almaty, Rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Epiphany Church Archpriest Valery Shavrin; Dean of the Ili Church District Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov; Rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Kaskelen, Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko; Cleric of the Church of the Archangel Miracle Metochion of the Seraphim-Feognost Men's Hermitage, Hieromonk Iakinf (Katan); Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); Cleric of the Ural Diocese, Hieromonk Bartholomew (Mostovshchikov); Head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Deacon Alexander Piven.

An exact copy, "measure for measure", of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Healer" was brought to the service.

The choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Alma-Ata sang under the direction of E. Skorova

The Archpastor offered prayers for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.

The sermon on the verse after communion was delivered by Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos took place, after which the Metropolitan addressed those present at the service with a word of instruction.

The hierarch warmly congratulated the head of the personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), on his name day. The Bishop presented Father Prokhor with a holy prosphora and wished him God's mercy, spiritual and physical health, and zealous service to the Church of Christ.

"Today we are celebrating in honor of one of the most famous icons of the Most Holy Theotokos - the Smolensk icon of the Queen of Heaven. Its ancient name is "Hodegetria", that is, "Guide". "The icons of the Mother of God," says Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), "work miracles throughout the entire earth, preach, testify, and seal with signs the truth of Christ's teaching." The worship of the icons of the Sovereign Lady, the veneration of the shrines associated with the name of the Most Blessed Mother of God, and sincere heartfelt sighs before them open the gates of divine mercy for each of us. In relation to the Mother of God, we are all Her children, adopted on Golgotha during the Savior's suffering on the Cross. The words of the Lord, originally spoken to the Apostle John the Theologian, "here is your Mother!" (John 19:27), are addressed to each of us, and therefore all prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos must be performed by us with the awareness of this majestic truth. The relationship of a Christian with God, the Most Holy Theotokos, angels, and saints cannot be limited to requests alone. “If you love Me, keep My commands” (John 14:15), the Lord addresses each of us. The response to the blessings sent down to us from Above will be the cultivation of good qualities in ourselves, the fulfillment of the commandments, and active love for our neighbors. Saint Philaret of Moscow teaches us: “If we wish to worthily bless the Most Holy Mother of God, then let us love with all our hearts Her dignity and virtues.” And another outstanding hierarch, Saint Theophan the Recluse, gives the following spiritual advice: “Hurry to those who grieve, and the ray of mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos, overshadowing them, will overshadow you too.” May the mercy of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos be with all of us who honor Her miraculous icon and worship Her with faith.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.

Through the efforts of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, when he was Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, an ancient fresco was rediscovered – the miraculous Smolensk-Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”, one of the relics of the Epiphany-Anastasia Convent in the city of Kostroma.
The fresco icon, a copy of the Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, was created in 1672 on the wall of the corner south-west tower of the Epiphany Monastery by a team of icon painters led by the famous icon painters Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin, who were working at that time on the painting of the monastery’s cathedral church.
A hundred years later, in 1779, a devastating fire occurred in Kostroma, in which half of the city’s buildings perished. The entire Epiphany Monastery, its churches and fortress walls were engulfed in flames, but the wall image of the Smolensk Icon of the Holy Mother of God, protected by the miraculous power of God, remained completely unharmed.
In 1824-25, under the care of Reverend Macarius (Glukharev), the enlightener of Altai and one of the outstanding Russian missionaries and scholars of the 19th century, who was then the abbot of the Epiphany Monastery, the southwestern tower of the monastery with the iconographic image of the Mother of God on it was rebuilt into a church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Holy Mother of God.
In 1847, a terrible fire broke out again in Kostroma. The merciless flames destroyed the interior of the Smolensk Church, but, as in the fire of 1779, the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God again remained unharmed. The news of this miracle instantly spread throughout Kostroma, and, according to a contemporary, "many crowds of people standing near the Smolensk Church, with faith and reverence fell before this image of the Mother of God, asking Her for intercession and salvation of the burning city." Through the efforts of pious Kostroma residents, the wall image of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was covered with a precious silver-gilded frame. For many years, the frame adorned the ancient shrine, famous not only for the fact that it survived two fires, but also for the numerous miracles performed through it by the power of God's grace. In 1920, despite the active resistance of believers, the Smolensk Church, following the abolition of the Epiphany-Anastasia Convent in the city of Kostroma, was closed. All the church utensils, and along with them, the precious vestment of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, were confiscated by the provincial commission for the confiscation of church valuables. In 1990, the Smolensk temple, which had housed various institutions for many years, was returned to the Church and the revived Bogoyavlensko-Anastasiya Convent. The Smolensk-Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God, once saved from the flames of devastating fires, turned out to be badly damaged - almost only the outlines of the image remained. The restorers came to disappointing conclusions: the image of the Mother of God was completely lost, and the icon needed to be repainted. However, a miracle happened - one of the members of the expert commission took cotton wool and alcohol and made a test smear. Suddenly, an eye of the Mother of God appeared in place of the smear, then another. A miraculous renewal of the icon took place - it seemed that the image that had disappeared forever was restored. Experienced restorers were amazed by this miracle: they had never seen anything like it in 50 years of their work.
On November 23, 2004, a new precious riza was consecrated for the Smolensk-Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God.
Metropolitan Alexander wrote a detailed study about the miraculous Smolensk-Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God - "Kostroma Hodegetria".