Feast of the Baptism of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy and the Great Blessing of Water in the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty

January 19, 2025 – Holy Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the night Divine Liturgy and the rite of the Great Blessing of Water in the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: spiritual father of the Almaty diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), head of the public relations department of the Metropolitan District, key keeper of the Ascension Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports Hegumen Philip (Moiseyev), acting rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, Head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov, Deputy Key Keeper of the Ascension Cathedral Priest Andrei Shklyar, Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon John Zhuchkov, Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

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

In accordance with the liturgical Charter, special antiphons consisting of prophetic psalms are performed during the Liturgy of the feast of the Epiphany: the 113th "In the exodus of Israel from Egypt, to the house of Jacob from among the barbarian people" with the refrain "By the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us", the 114th "I have loved, for the Lord will hear the voice of my supplication" with the refrain "Save us, Son of God, baptized in the Jordan, who sing to You: Alleluia" and the 117th "Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever" with the refrain - the troparion of the feast "When You were baptized in the Jordan, O Lord". Instead of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn was sung at the Liturgy: "As many as have been baptized into Christ...", in remembrance of the ancient tradition of baptizing the catechumens on this day. The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Titus was read (Chapter 2, verses 11-14, and Chapter 3, verses 4-7), telling of the salvation of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel passage about the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Gospel of Matthew: Chapter 3, verses 13-17).
The sermon on the verse after communion was delivered by Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov.

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

During the consecration, the hierarch immersed the altar cross into the water.

At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander sprinkled the church and the worshipers with great agiasma; the clergy and choir sang the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast, after which the Head of the Metropolitan District addressed the congregation with a sermon on the spiritual significance of the Baptism of the Lord in the economy of the salvation of the human race.

Video filming of the metropolitan service was organized by the public foundation "Apostol" (director - V.M. Xenagos). Photo recording was carried out by the employee of the information department A. Sheglov.

Security and order in the Ascension Cathedral and the adjacent territory were provided by representatives of the Union of Cossacks of Semirechye, headed by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov - a member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.

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 feast of Epiphany and holy water were distributed in the churches of the Southern capital.

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

"The Great Twelve Feasts that we prayerfully celebrate today have three names: Epiphany, Baptism and Enlightenment. The feast is called Epiphany because at the Baptism of the Lord, the Holy Life-Giving Trinity appeared to the world. God the Father proclaimed from heaven about the beloved Son, the Son was baptized by the holy Forerunner John and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove. This day is called Epiphany 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 feast has been 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, damnation, and death. The Holy Church in the service of this day reveals to us the significance 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 immersed ourselves in the water of baptism, and the heavens opened above us, and the Holy Spirit, sent by the Heavenly Father, descended upon us... And at that moment of our baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, it was as if the Heavenly Father had spoken about each of us: “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 have united, whom we have received 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.