The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the coming Holy Forty Days

March 5, 2025 – Wednesday of the first week of Great Lent.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory the Dialogist in the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty in the coming Holy Forty Days.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: spiritual father of the Almaty Diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Archpriest Vyacheslav Churbanov, keykeeper of the Ascension Cathedral, head of the public relations department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; Archpriest Alexander Ievlev, Deputy keykeeper of the Ascension Cathedral Priest Andrei Shklyar, Head of the Metropolitan's Secretariat 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 Alexander Piven, Deacon John Zhuchkov and Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

The choir of the Ascension Cathedral sang under the direction of E. Boguslavets. The hymn "Let my prayer be correct" was performed by Deacon Alexander Piven, D. Kochua and M. Ababakriev.

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

After the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the clergy and laity on the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the current Holy Forty Days and addressed the congregation with the words of archpastoral sermon.

“We know that eternal life is achieved through love for God and love for one’s neighbor, but the Lord Himself revealed to us another great truth: divine food leads man to the Kingdom of Heaven – the holy life-giving Mysteries of Christ – the most pure Body and Blood of our Savior. Participation in the sacrament of Communion is a source of virtue and an effective means of deliverance from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). It is impossible, looking from the outside, to feel those gifts of grace, to perceive that consolation and help from the Lord, which are given to a believer by the correct observance of the fast, frequent visits to the temple of God, participation in the sacraments. Personal spiritual experience cannot be replaced by any efforts of the mind, tension of the will or attention of the senses, for “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). “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 39:9) – with the words of the Psalmist David, the Church of Christ calls us to join in the real, genuine spiritual life.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.