On April 13, 2025 — the great Twelve Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem; the Sunday of Palms — Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.
The liturgical celebration of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem is served in green priestly vestments (green being a symbol of the renewal of life and also associated with the fresh greenery of palm branches with which Christ was greeted by the people of Jerusalem).
At the beginning of the Liturgy, the antiphons of the feast were sung — verses from the Psalms containing Old Testament prophecies about the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem with special refrains: “By the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us,” and “O Son of God, who didst ride upon a foal, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia.” The Gospel reading at the Liturgy (John 12:1–18) tells the story of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. In the epistle (Philippians 4:4–9), Christians are called to joy, gentleness, peace, prayerfulness, and steadfast adherence to true doctrine. Instead of “It is truly meet”, the irmos of the 9th Ode of the Canon of the feast is sung, which in translation reads: “God is the Lord and hath appeared unto us! Keep the feast and with rejoicing, let us magnify Christ, with palm and branch in hand, let us cry out in song: ‘Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord, our Savior!’”
Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan were: the spiritual father of the Almaty Diocese, Archimandrite Ioann (Sazonov); the sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty and Head of the District’s Public Relations Department, Protopriest Alexander Suvorov; Head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prochor (Endovitsky); Head of the Metropolitan’s administrative secretariat, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacons Vitaly Bystrushkin, Alexander Piven, Ioann Zhuchkov, and Georgy Tkachenko.
Praying at the service were: the Head of the public foundation “Eleos” V.M. Kapsamun; staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration, donors of the diocese, Cossack representatives, Sunday school students, and parishioners of the cathedral.
The hymns were sung by the choir of the Metropolitan District (conductor – Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster – V. Dudareva) and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (conductor – E. Boguslavets).
The sermon after the Communion hymn was delivered by Priest Georgy Sidorov.
A large number of the faithful received the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
After the Dismissal of the Liturgy, the festal glorification of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem was performed. The Head of the Metropolitan District read the prayer for the blessing of the branches and sprinkled the willow branches with holy water.
On the church grounds, due to the large number of gathered faithful, the willow branches were sprinkled with holy water — by blessing of Metropolitan Alexander — by the sacristan of the cathedral, Protopriest Alexander Suvorov, who is also Head of the Public Relations Department of the Metropolitan District.
A live broadcast of the entire festive service was held on the YouTube channel “Proobraz,” supported by the public foundation “Eleos” (director – V.M. Kapsamun).
The video recording of the metropolitan’s service was carried out by the TV studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director – Honored Cultural Worker V.L. Posadneva, cameraman – A. Schmidt); the photo documentation was done by Information Department staff member A. Sheglov.
“Our standing at the Divine Service for the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem with willow branches is a remembrance of the triumphant Entry of the King of Glory into voluntary suffering. We are invisibly greeting the coming Lord and welcoming Him as the Victor over hades and death. On this feast day, we — the children of the Church — ask that the Lord, as the prayer for the blessing of the branches says, grant us to ‘attain with hymns and spiritual songs the life-giving and three-day Resurrection.’”
— From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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