The Reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Concludes on the First Week of the Holy Forty Days

On March 6, 2025, Thursday of the First Week of Great Lent, the feast of the “Kozelshchanskaya” Icon of the Mother of God was celebrated.

In the morning, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan prayed at the appointed service in the Iveron-Seraphim house church of the Metropolitan’s residence.

In the evening, His Eminence celebrated Great Compline at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

During the service, the final part of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete was read.

Praying at the service were the heads of the departments of the Metropolitan District, the clergy of the Ascension Cathedral, employees of the Almaty Diocesan Administration, and parishioners.

The hymns of the Compline were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of Honored Artist of Russia O. N. Ovchinnikov and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of E. Boguslavets.

After the reading of the canon, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan addressed the gathered faithful with a word of edification.

A live broadcast of the reading of St. Andrew of Crete’s Canon was held on the YouTube channel of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan, Semirechie.

The Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, which was read in parts from Monday to Thursday of the First Week of Great Lent, in accordance with the liturgical Typikon, will be read in its entirety at Matins on Thursday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent, during the service traditionally called the “Standing of St. Mary of Egypt”—on the evening of April 2.