On the Feast of the Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Christ the Savior Church in the Southern Capital

On January 9, 2025, during the Afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Apostle, Protomartyr, and Archdeacon Stephen.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Christ the Savior Church in Almaty.

Concelebrating with the head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were the vicars of the Astana Diocese—Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Benjamin of Talgar; Protopriest Valery Zakharov, dean of Almaty churches and rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral; Protopriest Eugene Vorobyov, rector of the Almaty Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”; Protopriest Alexander Gaychenya, key-holder of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral; Protopriest Valery Shavrin, rector of the Theophany Church; Protopriest Alexander Zyryanov, dean of the Ili Church District; Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the Akzhar district; Protopriest Pavel Pridatchenko, rector of the Holy Archangel Michael Church in Kaskelen; Priest Peter Andrusenko; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat; Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the administrative secretariat of the Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Sergy (Vnukovsky); Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin); Priest Maxim Bely, Priest Maxim Idrisov, clerics of the Nativity of Christ Church; Priest Ioann Konoplev, key-holder of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church; Priest Georgy Rublinsky, key-holder of the Kazan Cathedral in Almaty; Protodeacons Nikolai Grinkevich, Roman Golovin, and Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Alexander Dzhodzhua, chief physician of the St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky) Orthodox Medical Center; Hierodeacon Stephen (Popov); Deacons Rustik Yakupov, Sergy Kipshakbayev, Vyacheslav Solomatov, and Alexander Piven.

Before the start of the service, a reliquary containing a piece of the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to the church for veneration and spiritual strengthening of the faithful. Additionally, a reliquary with a relic of St. Stephen the Archdeacon was brought for prayerful consolation.

The choir of Christ the Savior Church in Almaty, directed by E. Skorova, sang during the service.

Following the communion verse, Priest Georgy Rublinsky read the Nativity Epistle of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, glorification hymns were sung in honor of the Nativity of Christ, after which Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the archpastors, clergy, and parishioners on the Feast of the Incarnation of the Word of God and addressed the gathered faithful with a sermon.

After the service, the head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated Hierodeacon Stephen (Popov), a cleric of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, on his name day and presented him with holy prosphora, wishing him God’s mercy, spiritual and physical health, and diligent service to the Church of Christ.

“Today, we turn our gaze to that distant time when the Only Begotten Son of God appeared in the world, born of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and transformed the entire history of humanity with His advent. ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12), we hear in one of the earliest apostolic sermons about the God-Man Christ. The Nativity of Christ is called the greatest and most pivotal moment in history by the Fathers and Teachers of the Church because no one but God Himself could repair the human nature corrupted by sin, deliver humanity from death, and open the gates of eternal and blessed life. No one—neither the best of men, nor ‘a mediator, nor an angel’—could accomplish this.‘No one but the very Savior who created the universe out of nothing in the beginning could grant incorruptibility to our corrupt nature,’ teaches Saint Athanasius the Great. ‘No one but our Lord Jesus Christ, who is true Life, could raise our mortal nature to immortality.’ In the Gospel, we read how the great miracle of Christ’s Nativity was glorified by all creation: angels joyfully proclaimed, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’ (Luke 2:14); the heavens shone with a miraculous star that ‘stood over the place where the Child was’ (Matthew 2:9); and ‘the earth,’ as sung in the festal kontakion, ‘offered a cave to the Inaccessible One.’ Those who awaited salvation welcomed the Lord as a Child, ‘glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen’ (Luke 2:20). ‘Come, let us worship with the Magi,’ calls Saint Basil the Great. ‘Let us give glory with the shepherds and rejoice with the angels, for today a Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11). Another Father of the Church, Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea, speaks of the gifts revealed at the Nativity of Christ: ‘Paradise is opened to the thief, curses are turned into blessings, all sins are abolished, deceit is banished, truth has come, pure morals are sown, virtue is transplanted to earth, angels have entered into communion with men, and men have gained boldness to speak with angels. Why and for what reason has this happened? Because God came into the world, and because humanity has been raised to heaven.’ In the festal hymns of these days, we repeatedly hear the call to embark on a spiritual journey to Bethlehem with the Magi to behold the newborn Divine Child in the manger. ‘Let us all go to where Christ is born,’ calls Saint Romanos the Melodist, ‘having the star of faith in our minds, and let us bring Him worthy gifts—the best of virtues.’ According to the consensus of the Holy Fathers, our gifts to the newborn God are our good deeds, and more precisely, the transformation of our entire way of life in accordance with the high calling of a Christian.” — From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.