On the Feast of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Representation of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan in Moscow

February 25, 2025 – The feast of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God; the commemoration of St. Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus, the Wonderworker.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and Their Mother Sophia at the Patriarchal Representation of the Kazakhstani Metropolitan District in Moscow.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were the Vice-Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Hegumen Agafangel (Gagua), the sacristan of the church, Hieromonk Anthony (Drobiazko), and the clergy of the representation.

The liturgical hymns were performed by the church choir under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.

During the litany for the departed, prayers were offered for the repose of His Holiness Patriarchs of Moscow and All Rus—Alexius I (Simansky) and Alexius II (Ridiger). St. Alexius of Moscow, commemorated on this day, is the heavenly patron of these ever-memorable hierarchs.

The service concluded with a glorification before the Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, after which Metropolitan Alexander extended his congratulations to the worshippers on the feast of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, known as the “Gracious Gatekeeper,” and delivered an archpastoral homily.

«For every Orthodox Christian, the name of the Most Holy Theotokos is dear and beloved, for it is through Her that Christ the Savior came into the world. We glorify Her as “more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim,” meaning that She is exalted above all the angelic hosts. The Mother of our Lord is also the mother of every Christian, for during His Golgotha sufferings, Christ, in the person of the Apostle John the Theologian, entrusted the human race to Her care. Therefore, everything associated with the name of the Theotokos is especially revered by the Orthodox people—holy places, churches, monasteries, and, of course, Her wonderworking icons.

Receiving what is asked for, the fulfillment of desires, and the realization of hopes are possible only when our hearts contain sincere faith in God and trust in His mercy. The Holy Apostle Paul teaches us: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Prayerful labor cannot be fruitful without the purification of one’s soul, without repentance, and without the correction of one’s life. As the great teacher of the Church, Saint Gregory the Theologian, says: “Just as a cloud obscures the radiance of the sun’s rays, so a sinner who does not wish to recognize his sins and renounce them obscures for himself the rays of God’s love and the mercy of the Theotokos.”

Therefore, as we venerate the icon of the Queen of Heaven, let us ask the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins, for the overcoming of our weaknesses, and for victory over our passions. May the main theme of our prayers and supplications be the pursuit of a virtuous Christian life, of which the Most Holy Theotokos Herself is a shining example.»

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.

Three times throughout the liturgical year, the Orthodox Church glorifies the Iveron Icon of the Queen of Heaven: on February 25, in commemoration of the transfer of a copy of the Iveron Icon to the monastery on Valdai; on Bright Tuesday, in honor of the discovery of the icon on Mount Athos; and on October 26, marking the transfer of a copy of the icon to Moscow in 1648, sent from Athos to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

The wonderworking icon is also known as the “Gatekeeper” or “Guardian,” a name linked to the miraculous appearance of the icon in Asia Minor. In the 9th century after the Nativity of Christ, a persecution against holy icons began there. A widow living in the city of Nicaea kept an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in her home. Soldiers who were iconoclasts entered her house and, in their fury, pierced the icon with a spear. At that very moment, a drop of blood appeared on the cheek of the Mother of God, as if from a living wound. To save the image, the widow carried it to the sea, and the icon, standing upright on the water, drifted away. Many years later, it appeared in a pillar of fire off the shores of the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos and made it known that it wished to remain at the monastery gates. For this reason, it came to be called the “Gatekeeper” or “Guardian.”

The wonderworking Iveron Icon became known in Russia in the 17th century during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Nikon, then archimandrite of the New Monastery of the Savior in Moscow and later the renowned Patriarch, appealed to Archimandrite Pachomius of the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos with a request to send an exact copy of the miraculous icon.

The Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was a prayerful image cherished by the ever-memorable elder hierarch, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov). In 1912, when the future Kazakh hierarch was a novice at the Tver Dormition Otroch Monastery, the Athonite Iveron Icon of the Theotokos was gifted to him by the monks. The hierarch never parted with the icon of the “Gracious Gatekeeper” throughout his life, managing to keep it with him even in the barracks of concentration camps and prison cells.