February 15, 2025 - the Meeting of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan led the festive Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul in the city of Almaty, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its foundation.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: the dean of the churches of Almaty, the rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Almaty Church in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Yevgeny Vorobyov, Key Bearer of the Peter and Paul Church Archpriest Kirill Shklyar, Key Bearer of the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Almaty Archpriest Igor Svetlichny, Dean of the Ili Church District Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, Head of the Personal Secretariat of the Metropolitan Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Key Bearer of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church Priest John Konoplev, Key Bearer of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty Priest Georgy Rublinsky; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Konstantin Chupachenko, Deacon Alexander Piven.
Praying at the service were: Honored Artist of Russia, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikov; employees of the Almaty diocesan administration, parishioners of the churches of the southern capital.
The chants of the Liturgy were performed by the choir of the Petropavlovsk Church under the direction of I.N. Korovina.
For the apostolic reading on the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, an excerpt from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews (Chapter 7, verses 7-17) was chosen, which speaks of the superiority of the Savior's sacrificial service over the Old Testament Levitical one and of the abolition, with the coming of Christ, of the ordinances of the Law of Moses. The Gospel reading at the Liturgy (from Luke, Chapter 2, verses 22-40) contains a detailed account of the Meeting of the Lord in the Jerusalem Temple.
According to the verse after the sacrament, priest Georgy Rublinsky read out the address of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Petropavlovsk parish.
At the end of the Liturgy, a glorification of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord took place.
Many years were proclaimed to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; the Head, archpastors, clergy and flock of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; the President, authorities, army and all the people of Kazakhstan.
Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the rector, clergy, monks and parishioners on the feast of the Meeting of the Lord and a significant event in the spiritual life of the Peter and Paul Church - the 30th anniversary of the founding of the parish.
In recognition of the work for the benefit of the Church of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul of the Southern Capital, His Eminence awarded the Order of the Holy Martyr Pimen, Bishop of Vernoye and Semirechye, founder K.P. Polsky.
Today we remember the sacred Gospel event – the Meeting of the Lord. This holiday is dedicated to the spiritual understanding of the event described in the Gospel of Luke – forty days after the birth of the Infant Christ, the righteous Joseph the Betrothed and the Most Holy Theotokos, according to the Law of Moses, brought Him to the Jerusalem Temple to present Him before the Lord (Luke 2:25–35). Here, in the main holy place of the chosen people, the mysterious meeting of the Law and Grace, the Old Testament with the New, the elder Simeon with the Divine Infant took place. The Meeting, described on the pages of the Gospel, depicts the most important meeting in the life of every person – a meeting with God. Together with the knowledge of the Creator and Savior, together with deep faith in Christ, people find the meaning of life, the purpose and moral basis of their existence. Having met God, a person strives to actively implement the words of the Gospel, begins to overcome egoism, learns sacrificial love, and is transformed by the light of the Kingdom of Heaven. Through the centuries, the voice of Christ sounds out to us, calling us to meet Him: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Happy is the person who hears this Divine call and responds to it. The righteous Archpriest John of Kronstadt saw in the events of the Meeting of the Lord – in how the elder Simeon received the Infant Christ into his arms – a foreshadowing of the sacrament of Communion. “We have greater happiness and bliss than Saint Simeon,” says the Kronstadt pastor and explains: “We have the happiness of lifting the Divine Jesus not only in our arms, but of receiving Him with our lips and hearts. And not once in a lifetime, not ten times, but as many times as we want.” In the same sermon on the Meeting of the Lord, the preacher addresses the Lord with repentant sorrow: “What have we come to? You come out daily to meet us at the gates of Your temple, and we respond to You with indifference.” It is vitally important for all of us to be grateful to God, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37), to try in every way to respond to His love. Participation in the Eucharist is one of such noble responses to the Lord and Savior and, at the same time, an effective means of cleansing and sanctifying our nature, the greatest Divine help on the path to salvation.
Today's celebration is aggravated for the clergy and believers of the Peter and Paul Church of the Southern capital by the memory of a special date - 30 years have passed since the beginning of the liturgical life of the parish. By historical standards, three decades is not a long period, but for the clergy and parishioners this time was filled with many works and concerns on the construction and beautification of the temple, the organization and development of various aspects of church activity here, and therefore became unforgettable and significant. Over the years, by the grace of God, a beautiful majestic temple grew on the site of a modest prayer house, and a small parish community turned into a large friendly Orthodox family.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Peter and Paul Church, it is necessary to thank and prayerfully remember its builders, donors and beautifiers, to honor the memory of all who served and prayed within its sacred walls. And, of course, to note the noble deeds of the rector, Archpriest Vladimir, the clergy, singers, church workers and benefactors. For more than three decades, Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar has been serving God and people as a pastor, always trying to bear witness with great power to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4:33), so that the word of God would grow and the number of disciples would multiply greatly (Acts 6:7). It was he who initiated and inspired the creation of a church in the Southern capital in honor of the chief apostles. Father Vladimir's sons followed in his footsteps - Archpriest Kirill works as the key keeper of the Peter and Paul Church, and Priest Andrei carries out the obedience of assistant key keeper of the Ascension Cathedral. May our zeal for attending church never wane, our love for divine services never cool, and our joy from participating in the Divine Liturgy never fade. Through the prayers of the Most Blessed Lady Theotokos, the supreme apostles Peter and Paul, the new martyrs and confessors of Kazakhstan, may “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor. 13:13) be with us all. From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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