Address of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan to the Participants of the Celebrations Honoring the Appearance of the Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at the Velikaya River

June 6, 2026 – the feast of the appearance of the Velikoretsk Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, the celebrations at the Velikaya River were presided over by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

The Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan addressed the participants of the All-Russian Velikoretsk Cross Procession and the celebrations honoring the appearance of the Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at the Velikaya River with words of greeting and congratulation:

Your Eminences and Graces!

Reverend Fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

“The memory of the righteous is blessed” (Prov. 10:7) – such a prophecy was uttered in ancient times by the wise Solomon.

These sacred words have been fulfilled in all their fullness in the humble hierarch of the small Asia Minor city of Myra in Lycia – St. Nicholas.

Seventeen centuries have passed since the earthly life of this servant of God, yet the memory of him, of his kindness and responsiveness to human suffering, has not faded among nations and peoples.

The Church of Christ has called him a wonderworker, a “rule of faith and image of meekness,” a “universal lamp,” and “equal in standing with the apostles and prophets.” People deeply venerate St. Nicholas not only for the remarkable miracles he performed in distant times, but to an even greater extent for his unceasing works of love, for the swift and unfailing help that invariably follows sincere prayers.

In one of the hymns dedicated to St. Nicholas it is said: “In body thou dost rest in Bari, yet in spirit thou visitest the faithful everywhere and deliverest all from misfortunes.” As if as a pledge of his invisible presence, the servant of God bestowed upon the Orthodox people several of his wonderworking icons. Believers are familiar with the “Serbian,” “Dochiariou,” “Mozhaisk,” “Murom,” “Zaraysk,” and “Tomsk” images of the saint of Christ. Yet the most widespread and most venerated image of the Hierarch of Myra is the ancient Velikoretsk Icon.

Ancient tradition recounts the appearance of the wonderworking image of St. Nicholas in the Vyatka region on the bank of the Velikaya River in 1383. Two decades later, the inhabitants of Khlynov – the capital of the Vyatka land – solemnly transferred the icon of the saint of Christ, already glorified by numerous miracles, to the city cathedral, while promising to return the holy image annually to the place of its appearance. Thus, more than six hundred years ago, the tradition of the Velikoretsk Cross Procession was established.

Part 2

For every believing heart, a procession of the Cross is an experience of the immediate presence of God, a time of the closest prayerful communion with the Most Pure Theotokos, the angelic hosts, and the saints, an image of the unity of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant.

St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, explains the meaning of a procession of the Cross in these words: “The presence of the Cross of the Lord and holy icons, and the sprinkling with holy water, purifies the air and the earth from our sinful defilements, drives away dark powers and draws near the powers of light.” Through the chanting of sacred hymns, the offering of incense, the sprinkling of holy water, and the blessing with crosses and holy objects, the elements of creation are sanctified and blessed, and the world is restored to its primordial purity.

After 1917, a terrible era of persecution against Holy Orthodoxy began. The Velikoretsk Cross Procession was banned, and only courageous confessors of the faith dared to undertake the pilgrimage. The Lord says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).

Through the prayers of the host of New Martyrs and Confessors of our Church, the Lord inclined His mercy toward the people living in the Vyatka land. From the mid-1980s, the icy chains of militant atheism gradually began to weaken. At that time, the ever-memorable Archbishop Chrysanthos (later the first Metropolitan of the Vyatka land) carried out his ecclesiastical ministry in the Kirov Diocese, as the Vyatka Metropolitanate was then known.

In 1989, he appealed to the authorities for permission to hold the Cross Procession and celebrate divine services at the Velikaya River. Following difficult and very tense negotiations, permission was granted. By the mercy of God, I, who at that time fulfilled the obedience of diocesan secretary, was entrusted with the great honor and responsibility of overseeing preparations for the procession and organizing the first Velikoretsk celebration after the era of persecution.

More than five thousand people participated in the restored celebration. The inner feeling was as though Bright Pascha itself was being celebrated. This spirit found expression in the singing of Paschal irmoi, troparia, and stichera; over the forests and meadows resounded the hymn of the victory of life over death, and thousands of people, “with one mouth and one heart,” proclaimed: “Christ is risen! – Indeed He is risen!”

Thus, the ancient pious custom of our forefathers was revived. The following year, the procession took place once again, gathering an even greater number of pilgrims. By the mercy of God, the time came when people could freely profess their faith, restore a sacred ancient tradition, and fittingly glorify the wondrous saint of God – St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, “the source of miracles and great protector of the faithful.”

Since 1992, the Velikoretsk Cross Procession has followed its historic route from the principal cathedral of the city of Vyatka, and now every year on June 6 thousands of pilgrims from across Russia and from both near and far abroad gather at the site of the appearance of the wonderworking image of St. Nicholas.

The Velikoretsk celebrations have become one of the most remarkable events in the recent history of our Church. In 2000, with the blessing of the ever-memorable His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Velikoretsk Cross Procession, which gathers tens of thousands of faithful in prayer, received All-Russian status.

We, who make pilgrimage to the Velikaya River in remembrance of the glorification of the wonderworking image of St. Nicholas, and all who venerate the wonderworking hierarch, must draw spiritual lessons from this – we ought to strive to acquire that love for God and neighbor, that meekness, gentleness, and compassion which were manifested by this servant of God.

The Hierarch of Myra left no written works, epistles, or sermons to posterity. His principal legacy is a life wholly devoted to God and to people.

May our zeal for works of faith and piety never grow weak, may our love for divine services never grow cold, and may the joy of participation in the Divine Liturgy never fade.

Through the prayers of our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos, of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose memory we now joyfully celebrate, and of all the saints, may there abide with us all “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:13).