On the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the festive Great Vespers in the main church of Almaty

On the evening of April 20, 2025, on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Great Easter Vespers in the Ascension Cathedral of the city of Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Administrator of the Affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen and Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan; Dean of the parishes of Almaty Archpriest Valery Zakharov, Rector of the Church of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, Spiritual Father of the Almaty Diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov); heads of departments of the Metropolitan District in holy orders and clergy of churches of the Southern capital.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District under the direction of Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, the choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of E. Boguslavets and students of the Orthodox singing school "Tsevnitsa" under the direction of N. Golovina.

The following prayed at the service: the abbess of the Iversko-Serafimovsky Convent, Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) with the nuns of the convent; employees of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration, benefactors of the diocese.

The guests of the holiday were: the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of Alma-Ata N.M. Kikimov.

According to the established tradition, at the beginning of the Great Vespers, the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was brought to the Alma-Ata Cathedral by a delegation of clergy and laity of the Astana-Alma-Ata Diocese.

The head of the Metropolitan District sincerely thanked the benefactors for organizing the bringing of the Holy Fire from the holy city of Jerusalem to Kazakhstan.

Having ascended the pulpit, the Metropolitan was the first to light the bundles of candles from the relic and blessed the believers with them. From this fire, candles were lit throughout the cathedral, spiritually connecting the Alma-Ata residents with the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem.

In accordance with the liturgical charter, the great prokeimenon was performed during the Vespers.
Metropolitan Alexander, facing the people, read the beginning of the Gospel of John in the royal gates, telling about the first appearance of the Risen Savior to His disciples, during which the Apostle Thomas was absent.

At the end of the Vespers, Bishop Gennady, on behalf of the archpastors, clergy, monastics and laity of the Metropolitan District, congratulated the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

On behalf of the executive authority of the city of Almaty, the Metropolitan and the faithful were greeted on the feast of Holy Easter by the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of Almaty N.M. Kikimov. Nurlan Medsantovich read out the welcoming address of Erbolat Askarbekovich Dosayev.

Pupils of the Sunday school of the cathedral congratulated the faithful with Easter hymns.