The Day of Remembrance of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky and Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh. Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Almaty (+VIDEO)

December 6, 2024 – the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple; the day of remembrance of the Blessed Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky, Saint Amphilochius of Iconium and Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh.

Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky is the patron saint of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan. In holy baptism, the bishop was named in honor of the famous Russian prince.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the city of Almaty.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Archbishop Amfilohiy of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk, Administrator of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop Ignatius of Aktobe and Kyzylorda, Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Dean of the parishes of Almaty, Rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Dean of the parishes of Astana Archimandrite Sergiy (Karamyshev), rector of the Almaty Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, spiritual father of the Almaty diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), chairman of the department of religious education and catechesis of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, rector of the Pokrovsky parish Archpriest Evgeny Bobylev; acting rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Rector of the Church of the Epiphany of the Lord in the village of Malovodnoye, Archpriest Nikolai Tkachenko, Rector of the Alekseevskaya Church in the village of Baiterek, Archpriest Anatoly Boyko, Rector of the Cosmas and Damian Church in Almaty, Archpriest Georgy Chistyakov, Rector of the Paraskevskaya Church and the Alexander Nevsky Church, Archpriest Ioann Lopatin, Key Keeper of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Igor Svetlichny, Rector of the Epiphany Church, Archpriest Valery Shavrin, Key Keeper of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, Rector of the St. Sergius Church and Head of the Commission of the Metropolitan District for Charity and Social Service, Archpriest Vyacheslav Pugachev; Rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Guldala, Archpriest Georgy Kharlov, Archpriest Alexander Sokolov, Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin), Vice-Rector for Educational Work at the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, Priest John Livinsky, 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, Rector of the Church of the Holy Confessor Nikolai in the Alma-Ata village of Irgeli, Hieromonk Philotheus (Bobov), Key Keeper of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Alma-Ata, Priest Roman Burdukov, Rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in the city of Talgar, Priest Kirill Freigang, Head of the Correspondence Department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev, Key Keeper of the Kazan Cathedral in Alma-Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; the sacristan of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church, priest Ioann Konoplev; rectors of churches and clergy of the Alma-Ata diocese; protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the metropolitan's protocol service, protodeacon Roman Golovin, protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, protodeacon Alexander Mokiy, deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, deacon Bogdan Boyko, deacon Ioann Churkin, deacon Rustik Yakubov.

A reliquary with a particle of the holy relics of the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky was brought to the church for the service.

The chants were performed by the male choir of the Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of deacon Alexander Pivnya.

The following prayed at the Liturgy: secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; employees of the diocesan administration, teachers and students of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, benefactors of the Alexander Nevsky Church, students of the Sunday school of the Church of St. John the Theologian in the Southern capital and Orthodox believers of Alma-Ata.

The sermon after the communion verse was delivered by Archpriest Valery Zakharov.

The liturgy ended with the glorification of the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos and the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky, after which Metropolitan Alexander consecrated the newly created icon cases for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

On behalf of the clergy and believers, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen congratulated the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on the day of remembrance of the heavenly patron.

The head of the Metropolitan District expressed words of gratitude for the good wishes and asked those present in the church for special prayers for the God's gracious help in serving the Church of Christ, after which he congratulated the Most Reverend Archpastors, clergy, monastics and laity on the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, the day of remembrance of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky and Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh.

Many years were proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'; to the Head and Episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; to the President; to the authorities, army and all the people of Kazakhstan.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander gave a blessing for wearing the cassock to the students of the preparatory course of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated Archbishop Amphilochius on the day of his heavenly patron and wished him good health, God's mercy and gracious help in his difficult archpastoral service.

The video recording of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District "Semirechye" (director - honored cultural worker V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photo recording – information department employee Alexey Shcheglov.