Eve of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany Eve

January 18, 2025 – Eve of the Epiphany of the Lord (Epiphany Eve); the day of remembrance of the martyr Joseph Bespalov and the 37 martyrs with him in Talgar who suffered for Christ (1921), the martyr Eugenia Domozhirova who was killed in Alma-Ata (1933).

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated a festive service in the Ascension Cathedral of Alma-Ata – the Great Vespers in conjunction with the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia and the rite of the Great Blessing of Water.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: spiritual father of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Archpriest Vyacheslav Churbanov, head of the Metropolitan District Department for Public Relations, key keeper of the Ascension Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, Priest Dimitry Sidorov, deputy key keeper of the Ascension Cathedral Priest Andrei Shklyar, 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; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Hierodeacon Sofonia (Mazurenko), Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon John Zhuchkov, Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

The liturgical chants were performed by the male choir of the Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of Hegumen Philip (Moiseyev).

After the entrance with the Gospel, the paremias of the feast of the Epiphany were read - Old Testament prophecies about the Baptism of the Savior with special refrains, alternately performed by the clergy and the choir: "O Lover of Mankind, glory to Thee" and "Only to those sitting in darkness, glory to Thee."

By reading the Apostle and the Gospel on the Eve of the Epiphany, the Church proclaims the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord John, who testified to the eternal and Divine greatness of Christ and called for repentance.

The sermon on the communion verse was delivered by Priest Georgy Sidorov.

At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander, together with the clergy, performed the rite of the Great Blessing of Water.

After sprinkling the church and the worshipers with the great agiasma (Epiphany holy water), the clergy and singers sang the troparion and kontakion of the feast before the icon of Baptism and the candle, symbolizing the light of Christ's teaching, the Divine enlightenment granted in the Epiphany.

At the end of the service, the Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the clergy and the faithful on the Eve of the Feast of the Epiphany and addressed the congregation with a word of instruction.

The Metropolitan congratulated the head of the protocol service, Father Protodeacon Roman Golovin, on his birthday, presented him with a liturgical prosphora, thanked him for his efforts and wished him God's mercy in his future service to the Holy Church.

“Today is a special day in the church calendar, which is called the Eve of the Epiphany. This is the threshold of the great celebration of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in the streams of the Jordan for our salvation. Today is a day of strict fasting, at the same time, the beginning of spiritual joy - in hymns, troparia and stichera the good news sounds of the appearance of the Savior to mankind. According to the fulfilled word of the prophet Isaiah, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned (See Isaiah 9:2). Today, we called by the Baptist John to repentance, grieve over our sins and ask God for the healing of our infirmities, forgiveness of mistakes and correction of life according to the Gospel commandments, we rejoice in the grace that has abundantly filled the world thanks to the coming of Christ. The call of the Holy Church is heard to go "to the waters", to draw the grace-filled power "from the wells of salvation" (see Isaiah 55:1, 12:3). Now again, by the grace of God, we have become participants in a magnificent divine service - the sanctification of the nature of water. Through the incarnation of the Son of God, through the appearance of Christ the Life-Giver, we have been granted a special, incomparable mercy of the Heavenly Father. Every Christian can not only perceive the Creator and Maker with the mind, heart and will, but also really unite with God, mysteriously partake of the Divine power. Through the feat of the Savior, His condescension to the human race, Birth, Death and Resurrection, Divine grace is revealed to us as a great gift from Above. This is the living and active power of the Almighty, which is capable of freeing man from sin, overcoming the imperfection of human nature, healing spiritual and physical ailments, raising people to the moral heights of the Gospel, and transforming the world. According to the most ancient tradition, dating back to the apostolic times, the great blessing of water is performed on the day of the Epiphany. By invoking the Life-giving Trinity, reading the Holy Scriptures and special prayers, immersing the altar cross, the water is sanctified - without changing its physical nature, it is filled with Divine power, becoming the great agiasma, that is the great shrine. This service, extraordinary in its beauty and inner spiritual content and the gift we receive – the great agiasma – elevate us from the earthly to the Heavenly, from the temporal to the eternal, and give us confidence that God, by His grace, abides with all of us who believe in Him, and that He, by His power, purifies and renews all creation.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.