Feast of the Baptism of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Metropolitan Alexander performed the Liturgy and the great blessing of water in the main church of the southern capital

January 19, 2024 - Holy Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan performed the night Divine Liturgy and the rite of the great consecration of water in the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was concelebrated by: confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), head of the Metropolitan District department for public relations, keynote of the Ascension Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, member of the Patriarchal Commission for Physical Culture and Sports Hegumen Philip (Moiseev), deputy the keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral, Priest Andrei Shklyar, the head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

Liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikova.

In accordance with the liturgical Charter, during the Liturgy of the Feast of Epiphany, special antiphons are performed, consisting of prophetic psalms: 113 “In the exodus of Israel from Egypt, to the house of Jacob from among the people of the barbarians” with the refrain “Prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us”, 114 “ I have loved, for the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer” with the refrain “Save us, Son of God, who was baptized in the Jordan, singing to you: Hallelujah” and the 117th “Confess the Lord, for good, for His mercy endures forever” with the refrain – the troparion of the holiday “ In the Jordan I am baptized to You, Lord.” Instead of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn was sung at the Liturgy: “The Elites were baptized into Christ...”, in remembrance of the ancient tradition of baptism of catechumens on this day. The letter of the Apostle Paul to Titus was read (chapter 2, verses 11 to 14, and chapter 3, verses 4 to 7), telling about the salvation of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the gospel conception of the Baptism of Christ from John the Baptist in the river Jordan (Gospel of Matthew: chapter 3, verses 13-17).

The sermon on the sacramental verse was delivered by Archpriest Alexander Suvorov.

In memory of the event of the Baptism of the Savior, at the end of the Liturgy, the rite of the Great Blessing of Water took place.

When performing the consecration, the hierarch immersed the altar cross in water.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Alexander sprinkled the temple and the worshipers with the great hagiasma; The clergy and choir performed the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the holiday, after which the Head of the Metropolitan District addressed those gathered with a sermon on the spiritual significance of the Baptism of the Lord in the economy of salvation of the human race.

Those who came to the service at the Ascension Cathedral received information booklets “What you need to know about holy water,” published with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan by the publishing department of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District. Booklets with information about the holiday of Epiphany and holy water were distributed in the churches of the southern capital.

For the convenience of parishioners, the distribution of holy baptismal water was organized simultaneously in several places, both inside and outside the church.

The video recording of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photographic recording by employees of the information department I. Burenin and A. Shcheglov.

Security and order in the Ascension Cathedral and in the adjacent territory were ensured by the Cossacks of the Semirechye Cossack Union, led by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov.

“The great twelfth holiday, which we prayerfully celebrate today, has three names: Epiphany, Baptism and Enlightenment. The holiday is called Epiphany because at the Baptism of the Lord the Most Holy Life-Giving Trinity appeared to the world. God the Father proclaimed from heaven about his beloved Son, the Son was baptized by the holy Baptist John and the Holy Spirit descended on the Son in the form of a dove. This day is called Baptism, because the Son of God plunged into the waters of the Jordan and sanctified the entire water element, renewing His creation. Since ancient times, this holiday was called the Day of Enlightenment and the Feast of Lights, because God is Light and appeared to enlighten “those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” and save the human race from sin, curse and death. The Holy Church in the service of this day reveals to us the meaning of the Baptism of Christ for our salvation. The Lord, having been baptized in the waters of the Jordan, drowned human sin with His immeasurable righteousness, sanctified the waters and gave them the power of sanctification for all ages. The waters, purified and sanctified by the Lord, became for us the font of holy baptism, the beginning of a new life of grace, through renewal by the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Lord reminds us all of the Sacrament of our own Baptism. Righteous John of Kronstadt thus connects the Gospel event of the Baptism of Christ with the baptism of a Christian: “And we once were immersed in the water of baptism, and the heavens opened above us, and the Holy Spirit, sent by the Heavenly Father, descended on us... And at that moment of our baptism in the Holy name Trinity about each of us, as if it were spoken by the Heavenly Father: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Yes, through baptism we are children and sons of God, adopted by Him, according to His great mercy.”
May the feast of the Epiphany renew in us the strength to remain faithful to the Savior with whom we united, whom we accepted into our hearts through the Sacrament of Baptism and to whom we must be faithful until the end of our lives.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.