Day of Remembrance of the Righteous John of Kronstadt. The Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Adrian-Natalie Church in the village of Otegen Batyr

January 2, 2025 - the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ, the day of remembrance of the holy martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer and the righteous archpriest John of Kronstadt.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in the name of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia in the village of Otegen Batyr in the suburbs of Almaty, a metochion of the Chimkent and Turkestan diocese.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Vicar of the Astana diocese Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Bishop Chrysanthus of Chimkent and Turkestan; Dean of the churches of Almaty, rector of the Nikolsky Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Almaty church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Guldala, Archpriest Georgy Kharlov, dean of the Ili church district Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, cleric of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church in the village of Otegen Batyr, Priest Evgeny Bessonov, Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin), 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, dean of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty, Priest Georgy Rublinsky, dean of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church, Priest Ioann Konoplev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Ioann Churkin.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander, an icon of the righteous John of Kronstadt, consecrated at his tomb in the St. John's Stavropegic Convent on Karpovka in St. Petersburg, was brought to the Liturgy. The icon case contains part of the vestments of the righteous Kronstadt shepherd and part of the oak tree planted by the saint in the St. John's Convent.

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 service: employees of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration, parishioners of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church.

His Eminence read a prayer for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.
The sermon on the verse after communion was delivered by Priest Georgy Rublinsky.

At the end of the Liturgy, before the icon of the righteous John of Kronstadt with the revered relics, Metropolitan Alexander performed a glorification of the saint of God and holy martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer.

"It is appropriate to call the righteous Archpriest John of Kronstadt practically our contemporary. Some of the witnesses of his earthly life, his prayerful feat and miracles, were honored to live to see the day of his canonization. I was fortunate to be personally acquainted with such people. My spiritual father, the ever-memorable saint, Archbishop Meliton (Solovyov) of Tikhvin, who died in 1986, personally heard the instructions of Father John. Bishop Meliton often recalled the story of his childhood meeting with the great righteous man. Father John said to the boy - young Mikhail Solovyov - the future saint: "Love the Church of God, and you will never harm her." Archbishop Meliton passed on these words of the Kronstadt pastor as a spiritual testament to me and his other spiritual children. An obvious miracle happened in his life. In 1934, Father John appeared to the young priest Mikhail Solovyov in a dream. The appearance was very vivid. The righteous man commandingly addressed the priest with the words: "Confess me!" The next day, Father Mikhail was arrested. During interrogation, the investigator asked the question: "Is it true that you revere the monarchist priest John Sergiev?" In that terrible hour, Bishop Meliton did not renounce the name of the righteous man, he really confessed Father John of Kronstadt, and he showed him a wondrous miracle, saving him from imminent death. At that time, such statements about the veneration of Archpriest John of Kronstadt could entail repressive measures, including execution. Bishop Meliton said that he understood this well, but he could not act differently, renounce, or lie. The miracle performed by the righteous John of Kronstadt radically changed the life of Metropolitan Nestor (Anisimov), an active church figure and courageous confessor of the faith. This happened when Nikolai, as Metropolitan Nestor was called in the world, was still a student. One summer, when Nikolai came from Kazan, where he studied, to his hometown of Vyatka for the holidays, his mother Antonina Evlampievna fell mortally ill. The doctors said that nothing could be done to help her and that she had very little time left to live. At that time, Father John of Kronstadt was visiting Vyatka. Having shown extraordinary persistence, Nikolai begged the priest to come to their home. The prayers of the Kronstadt pastor, his confidence that the Lord would grant what was asked for, worked a miracle - Antonina Evlampievna recovered literally before our eyes. The miraculous healing of his mother amazed the young man and he wanting to imitate Father John, became a zealous, hardworking priest - educator and prayer warrior. The Kronstadt pastor was also well known within the borders of modern Kazakhstan. At the suggestion of the Pavlodar merchant Artemy Ivanovich Derov, Father John blessed the beginning of the development of the Voskresensky coal mine, laying the foundation for the Ekibastuz open-pit mine - the largest coal deposit in Kazakhstan; with the prayerful and financial support of Father John, the Orthodox Kirghiz mission began its activities in the city of Semipalatinsk. Our fellow countrymen, martyrs for Christ in Semirechye - priest Evstafiy Malakhovsky and the chronicler of Eastern Kazakhstan, priest Boris Gerasimov - testify to the gracious help of the Kronstadt righteous man. The Kronstadt ascetic with his blessing strengthened the decision to "take the difficult path of pastoral ministry" of the student of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexander Solovyov, the future rector of the Znamensky Cathedral in Semipalatinsk, an outstanding church and public figure of the Irtysh region of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

Hieromartyr Bishop Pimen (Belolikov) of Vernoye was related to Father John of Kronstadt and was his protégé. As a young man, Bishop Pimen often spent his vacation time in the house of Father John. Under the beneficial influence of the Kronstadt pastor, the spiritual image of the future saint and martyr was formed.

During the years of the rule of the godless government, the name of Archpriest John Sergiev was banned, but even then, from the pulpits and ambos, archpastors and priests set the life of this great righteous man as an example to the faithful. "The cross adorned his chest, and his soul shone not only on his flock, but on all of believing Russia with the light of high virtues," said the holy confessor Nikolai, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata, about Father John. The ascetic of piety, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) in one of his sermons praised the Kronstadt pastor with the following words: "And now his prayer does not dry up for peace in Rus', for the standing of a good Rus', for piety, for the healing of our spiritual and physical illnesses."

The life and spiritual feat of the Kronstadt righteous man has been studied quite well. Many books and monographs have been written about him. But every time you reread the life of the ascetic, get acquainted with new or already known memories about him, the personality of the pastor reveals itself with its new sides." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.