Memorial Day of Righteous John of Kronstadt. The head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy at the Adriano-Natalievsky Church in the village of Otegen Batyr

January 2, 2024 is the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ, the day of remembrance of the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer and the righteous Archpriest John of Kronstadt.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in the name of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia in the village of Otegen Batyr in the suburbs of Almaty, the metochion of the Chimkent and Turkestan diocese.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Bishop Chrysanf of Chimkent and Turkestan, Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, Bishop Vianor of the Ural and Atyrau; rector of the Alma-Ata Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, dean of the Ili church district Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, rector of the Iversky Church in the village of Boroldai Hegumen Filaret (Petrochenko), rector of the Archangel Michael Church in the city of Kaskelen Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko, cleric Adrian-Natalievsky Church in the village of Otegen batyr priest Evgeny Bessonov, 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, acting dean of the Talgar church district, cleric of the St. Nicholas Church of the city of Talgar priest Kirill Freygang, priest John Konoplev ; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan's protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Bohdan Boyko, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander, an icon of the righteous John of Kronstadt was brought to the Liturgy, consecrated at his tomb in the Ioannovsky Stavropegic Convent on Karpovka in St. Petersburg. The icon case contains part of the vestments of the righteous Kronstadt shepherd and part of the oak tree planted by the saint in the Ioannovsky Monastery.

The chants were performed by the men's choir of the Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Pivny.

Praying during the service were: employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration, parishioners of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church.

His Eminence read a prayer for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Priest Kirill Freigang.

At the end of the Liturgy, before the image of the righteous John of Kronstadt with revered shrines, Metropolitan Alexander performed glorification of the saint of God and hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer.

The head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the worshipers on the day of remembrance of the All-Russian Father, after which he addressed those present with a word of teaching.

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated Bishop Chrysanthus on the anniversary of his priestly ordination, presented him with a holy prosphora and wished him God’s mercy, mental and physical health and diligent service to the Church of Christ.

“It is appropriate to call the righteous Archpriest John of Kronstadt practically our contemporary. Some of the witnesses of his earthly life, his feat of prayer and miracles were honored to live to see the day of his canonization. I was lucky to be personally acquainted with such people. My spiritual father, the blessed saint of blessed memory, Archbishop Meliton (Soloviev) of Tikhvin, who died in 1986, personally heard the instructions of Father John.

Bishop Meliton more than once recalled the story of his childhood meeting with the great righteous man. Father John told the boy - young Mikhail Solovyov - the future saint: “Love the Church of God, and you will never harm her.” Archbishop Meliton conveyed these words of the Kronstadt shepherd to me and his other spiritual children as a spiritual testament. An obvious miracle happened in his fate. In 1934, Father John appeared to the young priest Mikhail Solovyov in a dream vision. The phenomenon was very bright. The righteous man imperatively turned to the priest with the words: “Confess me!” The next day, Father Mikhail was arrested. During the interrogation, the investigator asked the question: “Is it true that you revere the monarchist, priest Ioann Sergiev?” At that terrible hour, Bishop Meliton did not renounce the name of the righteous man; he actually confessed Father John of Kronstadt and he showed him a wondrous miracle, saving him from imminent death. At that time, such statements about the veneration of Archpriest John of Kronstadt could lead to repressive measures, including execution. Bishop Meliton said that he understood this well, but he could not do otherwise, renounce, or lie. The miracle revealed by Righteous John of Kronstadt radically changed the life of Metropolitan Nestor (Anisimov), an active church leader and courageous confessor of the faith. This happened when Nicholas, as Metropolitan Nestor was called in the world, was still a student. One summer, when Nikolai came from Kazan, where he studied, for vacation to his hometown of Vyatka, his mother Antonina Evlampievna became mortally ill. The doctors said that nothing could be done to help her and she had very little time to live. At this time, Father John of Kronstadt visited Vyatka. Showing extraordinary persistence, Nikolai begged the priest to come to their house. The prayers of the Kronstadt shepherd, his confidence that the Lord would give what he asked for, created a miracle - Antonina Evlampievna recovered literally before her eyes. The miraculous healing of his mother amazed the young man and he wanting to imitate Father John, becomes a zealous, hardworking priest - an educator and a man of prayer. The Kronstadt shepherd was well known within modern Kazakhstan. At the suggestion of the Pavlodar merchant Artemy Ivanovich Derov, Father John blessed the start of development of the Voskresensky coal mine, laying the foundation for the Ekibastuz open-pit mine - the largest coal deposit in Kazakhstan; With the prayerful and financial support of Father John, the Orthodox Kyrgyz Mission began its activities in the city of Semipalatinsk. Our fellow countrymen, martyrs for Christ in Semirechye - priest Evstafiy Malakhovsky and chronicler of Eastern Kazakhstan, priest Boris Gerasimov - testify to the gracious help of the Kronstadt righteous man. The Kronstadt ascetic with his blessing strengthened the decision to “take the difficult path of shepherding” to student of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexander Solovyov, the future rector of the Znamensky Cathedral of Semipalatinsk, an outstanding church and public figure in the Irtysh region of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
The Hieromartyr Bishop of Vernensky Pimen (Belolikov) was related to Father John of Kronstadt and was his pupil. As a young man, Bishop Pimen often spent his holidays in the house of Father John. Under the gracious influence of the Kronstadt shepherd, the spiritual appearance of the future saint and martyr was formed.
During the reign of the godless government, the name of Archpriest John Sergiev was banned, but even then, from pulpits and pulpits, archpastors and priests set the life of this great righteous man as an example to believers. “The cross adorned his chest and his soul shone not only to his flock, but to all believing Russia with the light of lofty virtues,” said Holy Confessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata, about Father John. An ascetic of piety, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) in one of his sermons praised the Kronstadt shepherd with these words: “And now his prayer does not dry up for peace in Rus', for the survival of good Rus', for piety, for the healing of our mental and physical illnesses.”
The life and spiritual feat of the Kronstadt righteous man has been studied quite well. Many books and monographs have been written about him. But every time you re-read the life of an ascetic, get acquainted with new or already known memories about him, the personality of the shepherd reveals its new sides.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.