Address by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan before the New Year 2024

All-honorable fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

Today is a significant holiday in the civil calendar - the New Year. Humanity says goodbye to the segment of its life that is going into eternity and enters a new period of existence. Since ancient times, it has been customary for all nations to celebrate the advent of the New Year, and to this day the holiday called the New Year remains one of the important events in the public life of many countries around the world. You and I, Orthodox Christians, need to comprehend secular calendar dates, including today’s holiday, in the light of the Gospel truth. This is exactly what many fathers and teachers of the Church of Christ did, from St. John Chrysostom to the righteous Archpriest John of Kronstadt, devoting their sermons and instructions to the advent of the New Year. What meaning did famous theologians and Christian thinkers give to this event, what did they teach their flock and what did they write about to their spiritual children? The main patristic reflections in the New Year are devoted to the value and transience of time, the brevity of human existence and the importance of preparing for eternal life. They talked a lot about gratitude to God and human happiness. In the last hours of the passing year, it is useful for you and me to turn to their great wisdom, combined with holiness and righteousness.

The Lord in visions revealed to His prophets and apostles images of the Last Judgment of humanity, when books with human deeds written in them would be opened before God the Judge (See Dan. 7:10, Rev. 20:12, Isa. 65:6 -7, Psalm 55:9). Therefore, the holy fathers rightly compare the time of our lives with the creation of a book. Instead of sheets there are days and hours in it, instead of ink there are actions, words and thoughts. And it is not in the power of a person to remove a single written page; everything that is imprinted will remain until the last Judgment Day, when, according to the words of Blessed Augustine, “each of the people will listen to his life, read by the angel assigned to him.” There is only one true and effective means of correcting the mistakes of the past and only one possibility of healing long-standing sinful illnesses - this is sincere repentance coupled with works of faith. “Repent and be converted, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19), we hear the call of the Apostle Peter. In response to correcting our lives according to the Gospel, God will “blot out”, that is cleanse and erase the handwriting of our sins.

Liberation from sins opens the way to the eternal Divine Kingdom and already here, in earthly existence, gives everyone the opportunity to feel true joy and become a truly happy person. In the Holy Scriptures, where the concept of happiness is conveyed by the word bliss, there are many instructions on how to become happy. At each Divine Liturgy, the “Commandments of Beatitudes” are heard - the words of Christ, calling happy people the humble, repentant, meek, seeking the truth of God, merciful and peacemakers. If your heart is filled with faith, hope and love, if there is no anger or envy in it, if it is able to forgive insults, you are a happy person. If you managed to overcome selfishness, if you are not indifferent to the needs and sorrows of others and you extend a helping hand to them, then you are a very happy person, since God Himself has become your Father (Matthew 5:45,48). St. Nicholas of Serbia, a saint of the twentieth century, gave this advice to people seeking happiness: “Think about God at least as much as you think about people; honor God at least as much as you respect people; pray to God at least as much as you ask people; trust in God at least as much as you hope in people; thank God at least as much as you thank people; glorify God at least as much as you praise people.”

“The time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29) - warns the Apostle Paul, but even with the brevity of earthly life, the prudent use of time can acquire an eternity of bliss with God, just as for abuse - an eternity of sorrow. Let us think again and again how precious our temporary existence is, and not only every year, but also every hour and sometimes every minute.

Following the civil New Year, holy days come - the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ. Let us try to spend this time in prayerful concentration and spiritual purity. Let us hasten under the arches of the temples of God. Those who did not have time to attend Confession need to repent and cleanse themselves of sinful defilement before the Cross and the Gospel. For those who still hesitate to participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, it is significant and important to begin the Cup of Life, to partake of the life-giving Mysteries of Christ “for the healing of soul and body.” Let regular participation in the saving Sacraments, which the Nativity Fast teaches us, become our good custom, a pious tradition. And we will not only strive to go to churches ourselves, but we will invite our relatives and friends here, so that they too may be satisfied with the grace of God, get rid of the captivity of passions, be comforted from sorrows and get rid of ailments.

“Do not be ungrateful and unappreciative to God the Benefactor, but build a monument to His beneficence, offer a song of thanksgiving to the Lord,” St. John Chrysostom teaches us. Opening the blank pages of the New Year, let us gather in churches to thank the Creator and Giver of all blessings, God, for His fatherly care, for His blessings known and unknown to us, for the joyful events bestowed and the serious lessons sent down. Let's celebrate the New Year not in noisy bustle or sleepy despondency, but in fervent prayers for the increase of love, for the peace of the whole world, for the restoration of good relations between countries and peoples. Let us especially pray for the well-being of the earthly Fatherland - blessed Kazakhstan, for the authorities, military and people of our country and let us live a quiet and silent life in all piety and purity.

Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Mother of God, the intercession of the new martyrs and confessors of Kazakhstan, the prayers of all saints, may the time that the Lord deigns to give us become a time of spiritual renewal, the beginning of that life when we begin to love God and our neighbor “not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth.” "(1 John 3:18). Let us imprint on our hearts and make it our daily guide the apostolic words: “Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).