Celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, called “The Sign”. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the main church of the southern capital

December 10, 2023 – 27th week of Pentecost, celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, called “The Sign”; Memorial Day of Ioann Glazkov, presbyter of Karaganda and Sergius Brednikov, presbyter of Taldykorgan.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

His Eminence was served by: vicars of the Astana diocese - the manager of the affairs of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Archpriest Valery Zakharov, rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the city of Alma-Ata Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), clergyman of the Ascension Cathedral, head of the Metropolitan District department for communications with the public Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, acting Rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Secretary of the Kostanay Diocese Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha), clergyman of the Peter and Paul Church of the city of Almaty Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, rector of the Nativity Church of the Akzhar microdistrict Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), 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, rector of the Church of the Kazan Mother of God in the village of Zatobolsk, priest Andrey Krutin; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

Before the start of the service, for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of believers, an exact list, “measure in moderation”, of the miraculous Kursk-Native Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign”, consecrated during the visit of the great shrine of Orthodoxy to Kazakhstan in 2019, it was delivered to the main church of the southern capital . The image was painted by the famous contemporary iconographer, head of the icon painting workshop named after Gury Nikitin - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation S.N. Sokolov; it is decorated with a chasuble, repeating in detail the setting on the miraculous icon, made in the art workshop named after the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky by the talented gold and silversmith A.I. Aniskin. The copy from the ancient revealed icon of the Mother of God received the name – Kursk-Native - Alma-Ata Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign”.

The following people prayed during the service: the head of the public foundation “Apostle” G.G. Sosnovsky, employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, parishioners of churches in the southern capital.

The hymns of the Liturgy were performed by the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikov and the cathedral choir under the direction of N. Zubrevich.

The Hierarch offered prayers for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Archpriest Valery Zakharov.

At the end of the Liturgy, the glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos took place - the clergy and choir singers performed the troparion, kontakion and glorification of the “Sign” icon of the Mother of God.

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the participants in the service on Sunday - “Little Easter” and addressed those gathered with a word of teaching.

“In the church calendar, many holidays are dedicated to the glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos. The purity, holiness and spiritual greatness of the Ever-Virgin is revealed before the eyes of each of us who come to ask the Queen of Heaven and Earth for help and intercession. She, the only one of the entire human race, was determined by God to be the Mother of the Lord, through whom the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, became a man, as the Apostle proclaims, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1 , 14). The Mother of God united heaven and earth; She was, according to the words of Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), “the only vessel in which God dwelt with His very being.”

It is impossible to list all the mercies shown to the Christian world by the Most Pure Lady. Let us not doubt that a believing heart is capable of asking the Mother of God for new mercies and miracles. The outstanding hierarch of the last century, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), wrote: “Our spiritual eyes are our faith... The stronger a person’s faith, the more a believer sees the blessings that the Lord sends us and that the Mother of God gives us.” Today, as many centuries ago, accepting and kissing the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” together with the entire Church, let us turn to the Queen of Heaven with the words of church prayers: “Most Holy Theotokos, help us! Most Holy Theotokos, save us! We place all our hope in You, Mother of God, keep us under Your roof!” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.