On Lazarus Saturday, the Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Almaty

On April 12, 2025 — Lazarus Saturday — the feast of the Resurrection of the Righteous Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The service on Lazarus Saturday includes certain typikon features: hymns from the Sunday All-Night Vigil are chanted, including the troparia “The angelic host was amazed,” “Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ,” and “Holy is our God.” Instead of the Trisagion at the Liturgy, the baptismal hymn “As many as have been baptized into Christ…” is sung, in remembrance of the ancient tradition of baptizing catechumens on this day. Lazarus Saturday is the day when, “before the Passion” of Christ, and even before His own Resurrection, the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection is revealed to the faithful through the raising of Lazarus.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the Southern Capital.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolitan District were: Protopriest Valery Zakharov, Dean of the Churches of Almaty and Rector of the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas; Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyov, Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Almaty; Protopriest Vladimir Shklyar, Rector of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul; Protopriest Kirill Shklyar, Sacristan of the same church; Priest Alexander Triandofilov of the Theophany Church of Almaty; Priest Alexey Muraev of the Pokrov-All Saints Parish of Almaty; Priest Ioann Livinsky, Vice-Rector for Educational Work at the Almaty Seminary; Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky), Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Kheruvim (Levin); Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; and Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

The liturgical hymns were sung by the choir of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul under the direction of I.N. Korovina.

At the memorial litany, fervent prayers were offered for the repose of the ever-memorable Bishop Seraphim (Gachkovsky) of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan. That day marked the 100th anniversary of his birth. Also commemorated were the ever-memorable Kazakhstani hierarchs — Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), Archbishop Sophonius (Sokolsky), and all who labored for the establishment of Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan.

At the Liturgy, following the Gospel Entrance, a number of clergy of the Almaty Diocese were awarded the Patriarchal liturgical-hierarchical distinction — the right to wear the epigonation (palitsa) — in honor of the upcoming feast of Holy Pascha: Priest Alexander Triandofilov of the Theophany Church; Priest Alexey Muraev of the Pokrov-All Saints Church; Priest Ioann Livinsky of the Almaty Seminary; and Priest Maxim Lysenko of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

The homily after the Communion verse was delivered by Priest Georgy Sidorov.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander addressed the faithful with an archpastoral sermon.

In recognition of their labors for the benefit of the Church of the Holy First-Ranked Apostles Peter and Paul in the Southern Capital, His Eminence awarded P.I. Polsky the Order of the Holy Confessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan, and also awarded T.K. Polskaya the Order of the Holy Martyrs Seraphim and Theognost of Alma-Ata.

The hierarch sprinkled the faithful with holy water.

“Today in the Church calendar is a special Saturday — the Saturday before Palm Sunday, called Lazarus Saturday. On this day, we who have ‘beneficially completed the Forty Days,’ are called by the Church to remember the miracle of the resurrection by Christ of His friend — the Righteous Lazarus. This event the Holy Church glorifies as a proof of the Divine power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same time, as a confirmation of His human nature.

Attentively listening to today’s Gospel narrative, we see in Christ His God-manhood: two natures, two energies, two wills. As the all-knowing God, He announced to His disciples the death of Lazarus, without having been informed of it. As true man, Jesus Christ came to Bethany, where Lazarus had lived and died, and seeing his sister weeping, and those who came with her also weeping, He Himself wept, and as one who did not know, asked: ‘Where have you laid him?’ As the true God, the Savior, after a brief prayer to the Heavenly Father, with His almighty word, raises Lazarus on the fourth day after his death, delivering him from the darkness of death and decay. ‘Confirming the general resurrection before Thy Passion, Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead, O Christ God…’

For Christians, the resurrection of Lazarus became a pledge that God is able to resurrect all other departed people — it is a confirmation, an assurance of the general resurrection. Celebrating Lazarus Saturday, we confess with all our hearts our faith in the life of the age to come, which awaits each of us. We celebrate the beginning of victory over death, non-being, and destruction. The victory of Christ over death is not only a spiritual, but also a physical reality. The Lord Jesus truly rose bodily for the salvation of all people. With His Resurrection, death lost its irreversible nature and became, for those who believe in Christ, a birth into eternal life, a door opening the way to Heaven, to the Kingdom of God. Strengthened by this truth, the martyrs for Christ boldly and courageously endured all trials and sorrows.

A vivid example of faith in the Lord and hope in the life of the age to come was shown to us by the children of the Church, who fearlessly received the crowns of suffering during the time of persecution against holy Orthodoxy in the past century.”

— From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.