Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, congratulated Metropolitan Alexander on the 35th anniversary of his archpastoral ordination

September 28, 2024. Astana. Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Astana diocese.

Metropolitan Veniamin congratulated the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on a special historical date and on the 35th anniversary of his archpastoral ordination:

Your Eminence, dear Bishop Alexander!

On this significant day for you, please accept my heartfelt congratulations on this interesting date – the 35th anniversary of your episcopal ordination!

Having accepted the lot of apostolic service on September 27, 1989, on the day of the celebration of the Universal Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, over the course of many years, with wise words and a strong hand, with the Lord’s assistance (Mark 16:20), you have been guiding the church ship of the lot entrusted to you to the quiet harbor of the Kingdom of Heaven, trusting in the living God, Who is the Savior of all people (1 Tim. 4:10). With ardent faith and unfailing zeal, sacrificially and selflessly you carry out the spiritual care of the flock entrusted to you and adorn the Church of Christ, proving yourself a worthy archpastor, a faithful servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1).

Your zealous archpastoral service bears abundant and good fruits. Tirelessly performing the work of faith and the labor of love (1 Thess. 1:3), you give the clergy and flock an inspiring example of diligent work in the Vineyard of Christ, calling every person to live in accordance with the high ideals of the Gospel, love for the place of their service and their Fatherland, the creation of peace and social harmony. All this shows your active concern for the word of God to grow and the number of Christ's disciples to multiply greatly (Acts 6:7).

Prayerfully remembering now with you and the flock entrusted to you by the Lord the events of your Pentecost, I bring you the sincere wish that the Lord, the Chief Shepherd, fill your heart with all joy and peace in faith (Rom. 15:13), granting Your Eminence long life, fullness of spiritual and physical strength, His generous and inexhaustible help in the high and responsible archpastoral labors, and peace and well-being to your flock.