On Bright Tuesday, the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty Celebrated Its Patronal Feast

April 22, 2025 – Bright Tuesday, the feast of the wondrous finding of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God on the Holy Mount Athos.

At the Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty, where a revered copy of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God is kept, the Paschal Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the vicar bishops of the Astana Diocese – Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan; and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Dean of the Churches of Almaty and Rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral Protopriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Church of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icon of the Mother of God Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyov; Sacristan of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral Protopriest Alexander Gaychenya; Rector of the Theophany Church Protopriest Valery Shavrin; Rector of the Church of Saint Paraskeva Protopriest Ioann Lopatin; Sacristan of the Saints Peter and Paul Church Protopriest Kirill Shklyar; department and commission heads of the Metropolitan District in holy orders; deans of the ecclesiastical districts of the Almaty Diocese; rectors and clergy of the churches of the Southern Capital.

Praying at the service were: Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent with the sisters of the monastery, staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration, and benefactors of the Diocese.

The hymns were sung by the choir of the Sophia Cathedral under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

Following the Communion hymn, Priest Georgy Sidorov proclaimed the Paschal Message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, glorification was offered to the Radiant Resurrection of Christ and to the Most Holy Theotokos, after which the Head of the Metropolitan District proclaimed the Paschal greeting “CHRIST IS RISEN!” in several languages – both ancient and modern.

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the bishops, clergy, monastics, and faithful on the twofold celebration – the Bright Resurrection of Christ and the patronal feast of the convent.

In recognition of her labors for the benefit of the Holy Church, and in honor of her 100th birthday and the 80th anniversary of the Victory, a nun of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty was awarded the highest women’s distinction of the Russian Orthodox Church – the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, First Class.

After the service, the metropolitan sprinkled the faithful with holy water and delivered a homily.

Filming of the hierarchical service was conducted by the “Semirechye” studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District (director – Honored Worker of Culture V. L. Posadneva, cameraman – A. Schmidt); photography was done by A. Sheglov of the information department.