Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan consecrated the beginning of 2024 with a night Liturgy in the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty

January 1, 2024 is the day of remembrance of the holy martyr Boniface of Tarsus and the Venerable Elijah of Murom; civil new year.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty on the night of December 31, 2023 to January 1, 2024.

The head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was concelebrated by: vicars of the Astana diocese - the manager of the affairs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; Bishop of 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; rector of the Church of the Epiphany Archpriest Valery Shavrin, dean of the Ili church district Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, rector of the Archangel Michael Church in the city of Kaskelen Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko, rector of the Mother of God Church of the Nativity of the Akzhar microdistrict Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), rector of the Church of the Hieroconfessor Nicholas of the Alma-Ata village Hieromonk Irgeli Filofey (Bobov), cleric of the Iversko-Seraphim Monastery, Hieromonk Arseny (Voloshin), cleric of the Ascension Cathedral, Hieromonk Roman (Chistyakov), head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), cleric of the St. John the Theological Church of the Southern Capital, Hieromonk Gennady (Soloviev), head of the administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; 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 Sergius Slesarchuk.

Praying during the service were: Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; Director of the Central Sunday School G.V. Cherepanova, employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration.

In the main church of the southern capital, for prayerful worship and spiritual consolation of believers, there was an icon with a particle of the relics of the martyr Boniface.

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

The special litany included special petitions for the beginning of the New Year, for the increase of love and the eradication of hatred and all malice, for the unity of Holy Orthodoxy.

Using the communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov read out the address of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan before the onset of the New Year.

At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander, in front of the icon with the relics of the martyr Boniface, read a prayer for the New Year: “Sovereign Lord our God, Source of life and immortality, of all creation, visible and invisible, to the Creator, setting times and seasons in His power.”

The choir sang the hymn “We Praise You God,” authored by St. Ambrose of Milan.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated His Grace the archpastors, clergy and believers on the entry into the period of the pre-celebration of the Nativity of Christ and the coming New Year and addressed those gathered with a lesson.

“As we say goodbye to the passing year, we thank the Creator “for all the known and unknown blessings that have been upon us.” Our gratitude to God should extend to the sad circumstances of our lives, difficulties and adversities. “All punishment at the present time,” the Apostle Paul proclaims to us, “seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). The Lord who loves us, desiring our salvation, sometimes reminded us of our Christian vows with illnesses and sorrows, warned us against falling and awakened us from sinful sleep. “For just as it is inappropriate not to thank doctors for healing the body when they give us bitter and unpleasant medicines, it is also inappropriate to remain ungrateful to God for what seems sad to us, not realizing that everything happens according to His providence and for our benefit”, - St. Anthony the Great teaches us.

For a Christian, each new stage of time is a gift from God, a new mercy and goodness of the Creator, who loves the world and provides for it. The coming year is new opportunities sent down to us from Above to increase our knowledge and experience, to reveal and increase our God-given talents and gifts. The most importantly, these are new opportunities to comprehend the love of the Lord, serve God and people and embody the commandments of Christ in one’s life.

As we enter the New Year, we cherish the Christian hope that it will bring new mercy of God to people. We express this hope in good wishes, in mutual greetings: Happy New Year, happy new happiness!

For a believer, true happiness is becoming like God, whose image and likeness we bear. The Lord Himself gave us such an opportunity with His coming, the Nativity of the Ever-Virgin Mary - the triumph of peace and God's love, which we are preparing to celebrate these days.

“The Son of God became the son of man so that man would become the son of God,” says Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. By participating in church sacraments, sincerely praying, studying the Holy Scriptures, selflessly performing deeds of love and mercy, we are already here on earth uniting with God and finding true happiness, the true joy of communion with God, which, according to the word of the Savior, “no one will take away from your joy” (John 16:22).

I encourage all of you, dear brothers and sisters, to spend the outgoing year and welcome the New one “through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Col. 3:16). Lord, bless the crown of summer with Your goodness!” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.