March 25, 2025 – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent, the commemoration day of Saint Gregory the Dialogist, Pope of Rome, and Venerable Symeon the New Theologian.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia in the village of Otegen Batyr, a metochion of the Shymkent and Turkestan Diocese located in the suburbs of Almaty.
Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese; Bishop Chrysanth of Shymkent and Turkestan; Dean of the Parishes of the Southern Capital and Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Cleric of the Church of Adrian and Natalia, Priest Evgeny Bessonov; Sacristan of the Church of St. Vladimir, Hieromonk Sergius (Vnukovsky); Head of the Personal Secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prochor (Endovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Cleric of the Church of St. John the Theologian, Hieromonk Gennady (Solovyov); Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin); Sacristan of the Church of Adrian and Natalia, Priest Ioann Konoplev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Office, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Ioann Zhuchkov; Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.
The singing at the service was performed by the men’s choir of the Almaty Diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Piven.
Praying at the Liturgy together with the faithful were: Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia O. N. Ovchinnikov, and staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration.
The homily before Communion was delivered by Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin).
The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Cross of Christ, after which Metropolitan Alexander addressed the faithful with a word of instruction:
“Each time we look into the depths of our soul, we discover a sharp lack of mercy, compassion, understanding, patience, and other noble qualities. At times a person lacks even the inner strength to support members of their own family, not to mention strangers. So what should one do in times when love grows cold? How can one resemble the Heavenly Father in mercy when the heart is afflicted by insensibility and indifference? The answer is simple — we must turn in faith to the Source of Life, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who said of Himself: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). ‘The beginning of every virtue is God, just as the sun is the beginning of daylight,’ explains Venerable Mark the Ascetic. It is in living and constant communion with the Creator and Giver of all good things that we must draw the gift of sacrificial love, which, according to the testimony of the Apostle, suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, and never fails (1 Cor. 13:4–8). This living communion with God is given to us in its fullness, freely and without price, in the Church of Christ — through its liturgical life, prayers, sacred rites, and Mysteries, and most of all, in the Divine Liturgy, in the Most Holy Eucharist.
The righteous pastor John of Kronstadt regarded neglect of the Eucharist, and carelessness about partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, as a clear sign of a person’s spiritual deadness. Therefore, let us strive with all our heart and all our soul to enter beneath the vaults of the church, to be cleansed through the Mystery of Repentance, to taste the Fountain of Eternal Life, to be filled with divine grace, to be healed of soul and body, to be strengthened in the virtues and the keeping of the commandments, and to be made partakers of the Heavenly Kingdom.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
Main
Login or register, to write a comment!
Your comment has been successfully added and is currently being reviewed by the site administration