On April 6, 2025, on the eve of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the All-Night Vigil at the Ascension Cathedral in the city of Almaty.
The festal service of the Annunciation — including stichera, troparia, and irmoi — offers an extensive and profound interpretation of the Gospel passage recounting the Archangel Gabriel’s annunciation to the Virgin Mary concerning the conception of God the Word.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Archimandrite Ioann (Sazonov), Spiritual Father of the Almaty Diocese; Protopriest Alexander Suvorov, Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral and Head of the Public Relations Department of the Metropolitan District; Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov, Acting Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and Head of the Information and Publishing Department of the District; and the clergy of the cathedral.
Among the worshippers were the newly appointed Archbishop Barsanuphius of Kokshetau and Akmola, staff members of the Almaty Diocesan Administration, and parishioners of the principal church of the Southern Capital.
During the Great Vespers, according to the Typikon, a litia (fervent supplication) was performed with the blessing of bread, wine, wheat, and oil.
At Matins, during the singing of the Polyeleos, a reliquary containing a particle of the holy relics of Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of All Russia — whose 100th anniversary of blessed repose is prayerfully commemorated by the Orthodox Church this year — was brought out from the altar to the center of the cathedral. The reliquary also contains other sacred items of the confessor of the faith: part of his patriarchal koukoulion, a piece of his coffin, and the pectoral cross he wore during his time as an archimandrite in America.
Following this, the special magnification for the feast was chanted:
“With the voice of the Archangel we cry to Thee, O Pure One: Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee.”
After the reading of the Gospel, Metropolitan Alexander delivered an archpastoral homily on the meaning of the Feast of the Annunciation, which he described as “the beginning of our salvation” — the moment that marked the deliverance of the human race from sin, the curse, and death.
During the reading of the Canon, the faithful were anointed with holy oil.
The Canon of the feast, composed in the 8th century by Saint Theophanes, Metropolitan of Nicaea, is devoted to the interpretation of the Archangel’s greeting to the Ever-Virgin and Her response to the glad tidings. It is structured in the form of a dialogue between the Theotokos and the Archangel Gabriel, with distinctive refrains: “The Angel cried out” and “The Theotokos said.”
On the very day of the Annunciation, April 7, Metropolitan Alexander will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty. The service will begin at 9:00 a.m.
Following the Liturgy, in accordance with ancient tradition, the archpastor and the faithful will release doves into the sky.
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