Address by the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, before the beginning of the Lent 2025

Venerable fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

March 3 marks the beginning of the Lent – a special period in the life of the entire Church and every believer, which prepares us for a worthy celebration of the feast of feasts and the triumph of triumphs – the bright Resurrection of Christ. The words from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul, heard on the eve of Lent, deeply and accurately characterize the holiness and greatness of this time: “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Rom. 13:11-12).

Dedicating these days to God, we will strive to renew our souls with deep and heartfelt repentance, kindle the fire of faith in our hearts, renounce sinful habits in order to receive the merciful and saving grace of God. “Let us fast with a fast that is pleasing to the Lord. True fasting is avoidance of vices, abstinence of the tongue, renunciation of anger,” we hear the words of Lenten hymns, explaining the meaning of all Lenten labors.

If we observe the fast correctly, harmoniously combining physical abstinence and spiritual feats, we will certainly receive benefits for the body and soul. “You see what fasting does,” writes Saint Athanasius the Great, “it heals illnesses, drives away demons, removes evil thoughts and makes the heart pure.”

The Holy Forty Days gives us the opportunity to renew and deepen our personal relationships with God and our neighbors; in prayer at home, in attending church services and participating in the sacraments of Confession and Communion, we can feel close to the Heavenly Father, experience the joy of eternal life, touch the mysteries of the future age, which the Scripture proclaims: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you” (Jer. 29:12), the Lord addresses us through the prophet. The best place for prayer is the holy temple, Heaven on earth, the House of God. Lenten services are a particularly effective means of renewing the mind and heart. The texts of the troparia and stichera filled with patristic wisdom, the drawn-out chants, the austerity of the church decoration, the majestic Lenten Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts - all this disposes us to concentrated attentive prayer and heartfelt contrition for sins. Reading the Great Canon of Repentance of St. Andrew of Crete in the first days of the Holy Forty Days, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian "Lord and Master of my life", the hymn "Let my prayer be set forth, like incense before Thee" - create the correct inner mood of the Lenten time for the believing soul.

While going through the fast, practicing abstinence, prayer and doing good deeds, it is important to remember the most important thing - love is the highest good of Christian life. Abstinence in food, prayers and prostrations will have no value in the eyes of God if they are not combined with love for one's neighbor. In the ancient Patericon, a collection of instructive stories from the lives of the Desert Fathers, there is the following story. Once upon a time, three monks who did not have enough love for their neighbors in their hearts came to an elder experienced in the spiritual life and began to boast about their deeds. The first said: “I have learned by heart the entire Old and New Testaments; what will happen to me for this?” The elder answered: “You have filled the air with words, but still there is no benefit to you from your labor.” After the first, the second approached and also asked: “And I, father, have copied the entire Holy Scripture for myself!” The elder said: “And there is no benefit to you. You have cluttered your windows with books.” Then the third exclaimed: “And I, father, work miracles!” “And there is no benefit to you,” the elder said to him, “for you too have driven love away from yourself.” Then, turning to everyone, he said: “If you want to be saved, have love for everyone and be diligent in showing mercy, and then you will be saved.”

The first step to acquiring love – the main Christian virtue – and, at the same time, a necessary condition for entering the time of Lent is our reconciliation with the people around us. Therefore, Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Lent, is called Forgiveness Sunday. Each of us, following the Gospel call “if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25), is obliged to remember those whom we have offended, whom we have upset, whom we have not helped in a difficult moment of life, and not formally, but with all our heart ask for forgiveness, and we ourselves must sincerely forgive our neighbor.

I wish the Orthodox flock of Kazakhstan in the days of the coming Great Lent "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17), so that our prayers and labors become a ladder that leads us to the great celebration of God's saving Easter.

Invoking God's blessing,

HEAD OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF KAZAKHSTAN

METROPOLITAN OF ASTANAI AND KAZAKHSTAN