On the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrates the Liturgy at the Assumption Cathedral in Astana

March 30, 2025 – the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent, the commemoration day of Venerable John of the Ladder, Abbot of Mount Sinai, and of Venerable Alexis the Man of God.

The Synaxarion for this Sunday states: “The entire life of Venerable John was one of unceasing prayer and boundless love for God. Having lived a life well-pleasing to the Lord, he wrote a book entitled The Ladder, in which he presented the teaching on salvation, and, filled with grace, he reposed in the Lord, leaving behind many other spiritual writings.”

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great in the main church of the country – the Assumption Cathedral of the capital.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), Dean of the capital’s parishes; Hieromonk Dimitry (Baydek), Sacristan of the Cathedral; Hieromonk Silouan (Sinegubov), cleric of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov; Protopriest Ioan Gondiu, cleric of the Church of the Great Martyr Charalampus in Chișinău; Hieromonk Prochor (Yendovitsky), Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat; Priest Grigory Kulikov, Head of the Orthodox Youth Movement of Astana; Priest Sergius Dianov; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Metropolitan District.

The Diaconal rank was led by Patriarchal Archdeacon Konstantin Bargan and Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service.

Among those praying at the Liturgy were: V.M. Kapsamun, Head of the public foundation Eleos; staff of the Astana Diocesan Administration; activists of the Astana Orthodox Youth Movement; teachers and pupils of the Central Sunday School.

At the beginning of the service, a reliquary containing the relics of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia was brought to the cathedral from the Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty.

The choir of the Assumption Cathedral, under the direction of O. Varentsova, chanted the hymns of the Liturgy.

The sermon after the Communion hymn was delivered by Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev).

The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Abbot of Mount Sinai and the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia. Afterward, Metropolitan Alexander greeted the clergy and faithful on the Sunday celebration and the commemoration of Venerable John of the Ladder.

“On the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent, the Holy Church dedicates its remembrance to the Venerable John of the Ladder. As Abbot of Mount Sinai, he offered us a lofty example of ascetic life and left behind a spiritually powerful work – a book known as The Ladder or The Tablets of the Spirit, which sets forth a teaching on the ascent of the soul to God – a guide on the journey from earth to Heaven, from the temporal to the eternal, from the depths of sin to the heights of divine love and union with God. The Ladder consists of thirty steps, each serving as a spiritual rung. The first step is renunciation of worldly attachments. Following are obedience, repentance, remembrance of death, mourning over sins, meekness. Then the reader is introduced to the causes of sin – the passions – along with practical guidance on overcoming them. The book also depicts the path of virtue, the ‘sacred and blessed’ root of which is prayer. The final part describes the three principal Christian virtues – faith, hope, and love. The Holy Church calls us on this day to learn how to fulfill the most important task of our life – the salvation of our soul – ascending step by step along the ladder of virtue and overcoming passions and vices.” — From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.