Memorial Day of the Great Martyr Barbara. Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in the church of the Representative Office of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan in Moscow

December 17, 2023 is the 28th week after Pentecost, the day of remembrance of the holy, glorious and all-praised Great Martyr Barbara of Iliopolis and St. John of Damascus.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in the name of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Sophia at the Patriarchal Metochion of the city of Moscow - the Representative Office of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.

His Eminence was served by: assistant to the Head of the Metropolitan District, Hieromonk Anthony (Drobyazko) and clergy of the metochion.

The church choir sang under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.

Employees of the Representation and parishioners of the temple prayed during the service.

The liturgy ended with glorification before the icon of the Great Martyr Barbara.

The Metropolitan congratulated the clergy and parishioners on the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Barbara, and addressed those gathered with a word of teaching. The archpastor recalled that the saint has grace from God to save Orthodox Christians who pray to her from sudden death without repentance and communion.

The hierarch spoke words of special congratulations and good wishes to those who bear the name in Holy Baptism in honor of the Great Martyr Barbara.

“Once again, the Lord gives us the opportunity on Sunday, which the holy fathers called Little Easter, to be in the holy church, to become participants in the heavenly sacrament of the Eucharist and to reverently partake of the heavenly, immortal and life-giving Mysteries of Christ.

We are preparing for the triumph of peace and God's love - the feast of the Nativity of Christ and we are going through the field of fasting. What should fasting be like for us? Not only in limiting food, which goes without saying. The main thing these days is good deeds, visiting church, Confession and Holy Communion, reading the Holy Scriptures, thinking about the thoughts of the holy fathers. All this together creates a special, gracious mood, preparing a person for a worthy celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

As always, during the service of Christ, the word of eternal life is heard, the Holy Gospel is read - the good news. Christ talks to our hearts, teaches us what we need to become, what to avoid and what to strive for. The Lord answers the questions of our heart. The Church has always said that when the Gospel is heard under the arches of the church, this is a conversation between the Savior and the immortal human soul.

What does the Gospel say today, which we listened to with reverence at Sunday service? This is a very edifying story. The Lord, passing through the cities and villages of the land of Israel, preached the gospel of salvation. And that He is the true Son of God, God, who came into the world to save sinners. The Lord supported this with many miracles. From the Gospel we know that Christ raised the dead, the deaf began to hear, the lame to walk and the blind to see. There was no such disease from which the sick would not receive healing by the Divine grace of the Savior.

Today we read how lepers came to Christ, and the Lord, having heard their prayers, sent them to the priest. Why did he do this? Because in the Old Testament, the priest was obliged to testify to the miracle of healing from an incurable disease - leprosy. These unfortunate sufferers, covered with sores and expelled from society, having heard the word of the Lord, whom they already knew as the healer of all serious illnesses, obeyed His Divine word, fulfilled the command and went to the priest. And while they were walking, they saw that a great miracle had happened - the terrible illness that was tormenting them, according to the word of the Lord, left them, they became completely healthy. And one of them, seeing that he had become clean, ran and returned to Christ - the One who sent them to the priest. He ran to thank for the mercy shown, for Divine mercy, for the help that he had been waiting for many years and received from the One who brings man into the world, who guides the life of each of us on earth, who allows illnesses and Who heals us from every disease. And the Lord’s conversation with this man is amazing: “Were not ten cleansed, where are the nine?” Only one came back to thank. This man was not a Jew, he was a Samaritan - a foreigner despised by the people of Israel, a man of different, “wrong” religious views, as it was considered. But no matter who this healed man was by faith and nationality, he came from the heart, from the soul, to give glory and praise to God, who gave him His ineffable mercy.

This is a great lesson for you and me. How much is sent down to every person on earth - we are sick, grieving, weak, we have a heavy heart, but the Lord gives moments that are forever imprinted in our soul as God's gift, as God's mercy to a person who asks the Lord for help and receives her. “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything,” - this is how the Apostle Paul, the Divine preacher of the teachings of Christ, teaches us.

Today gives each of us the opportunity to remember that on the earthly path we are walking, a difficult and difficult path, the Lord has shown and continues to show us His mercies, and we must thank Him for everything.

Let gratitude to God live in our hearts and inspire us never to lose heart, never to despair, but, walking along the path of life, to pray and ask the Lord for His help, His heavenly intercession, His gracious consolation, His support, which He always gives to those who ask. For everything we will thank the Creator and the giver of all blessings.

What power does His word have! He gives insight to those who do not have physical sight, gives hearing to those who cannot hear and gives healing from diseases that doctors cannot heal. The Word of God gives spiritual strength when we are exhausted and ask for heavenly support. We should never lose heart, but always pray and ask: “Lord, thy will be done! Send me the knowledge of Your truth! Do not deprive me of consolation, grant me Your heavenly help! I direct my gaze, my prayer, my voice to You, to the One who introduced me into this world, who showed me the beauty of His creation. And grant me strength and strength to always be with You.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.