Commemoration of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church

February 9, 2025—Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee; the feast of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.

On the eve of the feast, at the All-Night Vigil, after the reading of the Sunday Gospel, for the first time in the current liturgical year, the Lenten troparia were sung in the churches:

“Open unto me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life.”

In the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their Mother Sophia, at the Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow—the Representation of the Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan—the Divine Liturgy was celebrated.

The staff of the Representation and the parishioners of the church prayed at the divine service.

The choir of the church, under the direction of Anna Rozhnova, sang the liturgical hymns.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan prayerfully honored the memory of those who suffered for their faith in Christ.

The Metropolitan also performed a memorial litia with special petitions for those who suffered in the time of persecution:

“Again we pray to Thee, our God and Savior, that Thou mayest mercifully look upon the Russian Church, which now commemorates the assembly of martyrs and confessors who endured terrible sufferings and received a martyr’s death for the faith and for righteousness in the past century, the hierarchs, pastors, monastics, and laity who perished from hunger and cold in prisons and bonds, whose names Thou Thyself, O Lord, knowest; that they may be forgiven every sin, both voluntary and involuntary. Again we pray to Thee, our God, that the prayers of these martyrs, who suffered and were slain for the Orthodox faith in our land during the years of tribulation, may be received as fragrant incense, and that their souls may be established in the place where the righteous repose. We ask of Christ, the Immortal King and our God, mercy, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the remission of sins for all who have suffered for the name of Christ and strengthened the Russian Church with their own blood.”

The Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the clergy and laity on Sunday, which opens the preparatory period for Great Lent, and on the feast honoring the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church who shone forth in martyrdom and confession in the 20th century.

“For every Orthodox Christian, for every faithful child of the Church of Christ, the commemoration of martyrs and confessors is always a significant spiritual event that strengthens faith and inspires new labors for the sake of God and for the benefit of one’s neighbor. It was precisely about the martyrs that the Holy Apostle Paul wrote: ‘Remember your leaders, who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the outcome of their life, imitate their faith’ (Heb. 13:7). The first Christian saints were the martyrs. The word ‘martyr’ in Greek means ‘witness.’ They bore witness to the world, which was steeped in vice and godlessness, of the power of their Christian hope, of the eternal, immutable values of the Gospel. And the world was conquered by this witness. ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,’ said the Christian writer Tertullian in the third century.” When we speak of the suffering feats of hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laity in the 20th century, we must understand that such martyrdom was unprecedented in the thousand-year history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Even the ancient world at the dawn of the Christian era had not seen such cruelty. We believe in the wondrous intercession of our saints before the Throne of God. Through their prayers, grace-filled transformations occur in our lives—victory over sin, the acquisition of virtues, and the establishment in the commandments. Through their intercession, the revival of our native Orthodoxy is accomplished. Today, no one threatens us with death, torture, imprisonment, or exile for our faith in Christ. But therein lies the tragedy—that now, without any coercion, some people cease to live a spiritual life and abandon their faith. Others, with malicious attacks, assail the Church in which they were baptized and raised, eagerly seeking out its flaws—more often than not, relying on outright lies. The prophetic words of the Gospel are being fulfilled: ‘And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold’ (Matt. 24:12). Indeed, this holy feeling grows scarce in peopl —both toward God and toward their neighbor. What, then, can save our society from all these temptations and delusions? Of course, strong faith and the memory of the new martyrs and confessors, who, even under the threat of death, did not renounce God and did not abandon the saving fold of the Church. They have departed to God; their names are already part of history, but this entire assembly of sufferers remains alive and continues to fulfill its lofty mission. The new martyrs and confessors have become sources of grace-filled light for our people, the glory and adornment of the Church.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.