On the Week of Saints, Father Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty

December 31, 2023 – 30th week after Pentecost, before the Nativity of Christ; memory of saints father.

On the last Sunday before Christmas, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of the ancestors according to the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, starting from the Old Testament Patriarch Abraham and ending with the righteous Joseph the Betrothed; The prophet Daniel and the three righteous youths are especially remembered - Ananias, Azariah and Misail.

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

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop of Talgar Veniamin, Bishop of the Ural and Atyrau Vianor; 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’s public relations department, 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; member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports, Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), sacristan of the Nativity Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Gaichenya, sacristan of the Peter and Paul Church in Alma-Ata, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, vice-rector for educational work of the Alma-Ata Theological 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; clergyman of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the southern capital, Priest Roman Burdukov; head of the correspondence department of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Priest Daniil Bobylev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon John Churkin, Hierodeacon Zephaniah (Mazurenko), Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

The chants were performed by: the choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of N. Zubrevich.

During the Liturgy, the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew was read, containing the book of the Savior’s kinship and the story of the Birth of the Lord from the Ever-Virgin Mary.

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 Evgeniy Ivanov.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander led the prayer singing before the beginning of the New Year. The prayer service ended with the singing of the hymn of St. Ambrose of Milan, “We Praise Thee God.”

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan addressed the audience with a sermon and congratulated the clergy and believers on the memory of the Holy Fathers.

His Eminence warmly congratulated Archpriest Evgeniy Ivanov on the anniversary of his diaconal ordination, presented him with a holy prosphora, thanked him for his labors and wished him mental and physical strength and God’s mercy in his further service to the Holy Church.

“Today is a Sunday day, which brings us closer to the bright holiday of the appearance of Christ the Giver of Life into the world through the remembrance of the holy fathers - the Old Testament righteous, who are the ancestors and relatives of the Savior in the flesh. During the Liturgy, a special Gospel beginning was sounded, containing the book of the Lord’s kinship. Evangelist Matthew, through these short lines, through a list of names, reminds us of the entire history of the Old Testament, when people “sitting in darkness and the shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16) waited for the Savior of the world and the righteous were saved by faith in the coming Messiah-Christ . Behind every name there is a whole life. Here are the God-loving Abraham - the father of believers and the righteous Ruth, who left her native land and accepted faith in the One Creator, the psalmist King David and the wise Solomon. There are sinners and righteous people, famous bright personalities and ordinary people about whom we know nothing at all. The Gospel narrative testifies that the Son of God actually entered earthly history, responded to the languid expectation of many generations and took on our human nature in order to heal from sin and sanctify us with Divine grace. “When you hear,” St. John Chrysostom says about this text, “that the Son of God is the son of David and Abraham, then no longer doubt that you, the son of Adam, will be the son of God.” After listing the ancestors of the Lord according to the flesh, the all-joyful news of the Birth of the Savior from the Most Pure Virgin Mary sounds. Listening to the gospel gospel and reflecting on the mystery of the Incarnation, we discover for ourselves “the riches of the kindness, forbearance and patience of God” (Rom. 2:4) and at the same time we learn to be grateful to our Savior for the fact that “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16)” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander on the Feast of the Holy Fathers.