On Lazarus Saturday, the Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Peter and Paul Church in Almaty

April 12, 2025 – Lazarus Saturday – the feast of the Resurrection of the Righteous Lazarus of Four Days by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The service held on Lazarus Saturday has some statutory features: hymns are performed that are an essential part of the Sunday all-night vigil: the troparia “The Angelic Council was amazed”, “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ”, “Holy is the Lord our God” are sung. Instead of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn “As many as were baptized into Christ...” is sung at the Liturgy in memory of the ancient tradition of baptizing catechumens on this day. Lazarus Saturday is the day when "before the passion" of Christ, and even before His resurrection, the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ is revealed to believers in the resurrection of Lazarus.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Peter and Paul Church of the Southern capital.

The head of the Metropolitan District was assisted by: the dean of the churches of Almaty, the rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; the rector of the Almaty Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow", Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov; the rector of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar; the key-keeper of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar; the cleric of the Epiphany Church of the Southern capital, Priest Alexander Triandofilov; Cleric of the Pokrovsky-All Saints Parish of the Southern Capital, Priest Alexei Muraev; Vice-Rector for Educational Work at the Alma-Ata Seminary, Priest John Livinsky; Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin); Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky and Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

The liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the Peter and Paul Church under the direction of I.N. Korovina.

At the funeral litany, fervent prayers were offered for the repose of the ever-memorable Bishop of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan Seraphim (Gachkovsky). On this day, 100 years have passed since his birth. Also remembered were the ever-memorable Kazakh hierarchs - Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) and Archbishop Sofonia (Sokolsky), and all those who worked for the sake of establishing Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan.

At the Liturgy, upon entering with the Gospel, a number of clergy of the Alma-Ata diocese were awarded the Patriarchal liturgical-hierarchical award for the upcoming holiday of Holy Easter - the right to wear a palitsa: cleric of the Epiphany Church of the Southern capital, priest Alexander Triandofilov; cleric of the Pokrovsky-All Saints Church of the city of Alma-Ata, priest Alexey Muraev; vice-rector for educational work of the Alma-Ata Seminary, priest John Livinsky; cleric of the Peter and Paul Church of the Southern capital, priest Maxim Lysenko.

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

After the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander addressed the congregation with an archpastoral sermon.

In recognition of his work for the benefit of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the Southern Capital, His Eminence awarded P.I. Polsky the Order of the Holy Confessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan, and also awarded T.K. Polskaya the Order of the Holy Martyrs Seraphim and Theognost of Alma-Ata.

The hierarch sprinkled the faithful with holy water.

"Today is a special Saturday in the church calendar - the Saturday before Palm Sunday, called Lazarus. On this day, we, "who have accomplished the soul-profiting Lent," are called upon by the Church to remember the miracle of Christ's resurrection of his friend, the righteous Lazarus. The Holy Church glorifies this event as proof of the Divine power of our Lord Jesus Christ, at the same time, an assurance of His human nature. Listening attentively to today's Gospel narrative, we see in Christ His God-manhood: two natures, two actions, two desires. As God, the omniscient, He announced to His disciples the death of Lazarus, without being informed of it. As a true man, Jesus Christ came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived and died, seeing the sister of his dead friend weeping and those who came with her weeping, He Himself wept, and as one who did not know, asked: "Where have you laid him?" As the true God, the Savior, after a short prayer to the Heavenly Father, resurrects Lazarus with his almighty word on the fourth day after his death, freeing him from the darkness of death and decay. "Assuring the general resurrection before Your passion, You raised Lazarus from the dead, Christ our God..." For Christians, the resurrection of Lazarus became a guarantee that God is able to resurrect all other dead people, this is a confirmation, an assurance of the general resurrection. Celebrating Lazarus Saturday, we confess with all our hearts our faith in the life of the age to come, which awaits each of us. We celebrate the beginning of the victory over death, non-existence and destruction. Christ's victory over death is not only a spiritual but also a physical reality. The Lord Jesus truly rose in his body for the salvation of all people. With His resurrection, death lost its irreversible character and for those who believed in Christ, it became a birth into eternal life, a door that opened the way to Heaven, to the Kingdom of God. Strengthened by the awareness of this truth, the martyrs for Christ boldly and courageously faced any trials and sorrows. A striking example of faith in the Lord and hope for the life of the next century was shown to us by the children of the Church, who fearlessly accepted the crowns of martyrdom during the years of persecution of Holy Orthodoxy in the last century." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.