April 24, 2025 – Bright Thursday of the Paschal Week, the commemoration of Venerable Jacob of Zheleznoborov.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the Paschal rite at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Almaty.
Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolis were: the Vicars of the Astana Diocese — Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; the Dean of the Churches of Almaty and Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Protopriest Valery Zakharov; the Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Almaty, Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyev; the Rector of the Churches of St. Paraskeva and St. Alexander Nevsky, Protopriest Ioann Lopatin; the Rector of the Church of the Theophany, Protopriest Valery Shavrin; the Sacristan of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Protopriest Igor Svetlichny; Rectors and clergy of the churches of the Southern Capital; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Hierodeacon Athanasius (Kozel); Deacon Ioann Churkin; Deacon Alexiy Kanushin; Deacon Alexander Voronin; and Deacon Ioann Zhuchkov.
The liturgical hymns were performed by the choir of St. Nicholas Cathedral under the direction of O. Solomonova.
Praying at the service were: the staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration led by the Secretary of the Metropolis, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; teachers and pupils of the Central Sunday School of the Southern Capital led by the director G.V. Cherepanova; benefactors and parishioners of St. Nicholas Cathedral.
During the Liturgy, special commemorations were made for the newly-departed Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko), who had reposed the day before.
After the Communion Hymn, Priest Georgy Sidorov read the Paschal Message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the singing of the praises to the Radiant Resurrection of Christ took place, after which Metropolitan Alexander joyfully exclaimed “CHRIST IS RISEN!” in various ancient and modern languages.
The Head of the Metropolis warmly thanked the Rector, the hierarchs, clergy, and all participants for their shared prayer and congratulated everyone on the Paschal celebrations.
After exchanging the Paschal kiss with the clergy and faithful, Metropolitan Alexander delivered a sermon.
The pupils of the Central Sunday School (director – G.V. Cherepanova) performed a literary and poetic composition glorifying Holy Pascha for the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful.
Metropolitan Alexander warmly thanked the performers and presented them with sweet gifts.
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