Feast in Honor of the Synaxis of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Kazakhstan

May 7, 2025 – the feast in honor of the Synaxis of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Kazakhstan. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Matrona Church of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty – the house chapel of the Almaty Theological Seminary.

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the personal secretariat of the Head of the Metropolis; Hieromonk Kheruvim (Levin); Hierodeacon Athanasy (Kozel); and Deacon Bogdan Boyko.

Praying at the service were: Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina), superior of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent, together with the sisters of the monastery; staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration; and lay faithful of the convent.

The choir of the convent’s Sophia Cathedral sang under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

The sermon after the Communion verse was delivered by Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky).

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, a service of glorification was held in honor of all the saints who shone forth in the land of Kazakhstan. Following this, a Polychronion (Many Years) was proclaimed to: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church; to the Head, hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and God-protected flock of the Kazakhstan Metropolis; to the President, authorities, armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan.

His Eminence congratulated the clergy and faithful on the feast in honor of all the saints of Kazakhstan and addressed those gathered with a word of spiritual instruction. The hierarch sprinkled the faithful with holy water.

“Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations. The Lord showed great glory through them, His majesty from of old” (Sirach 44:1–2), says the Holy Scripture. Today, with this Paschal Liturgy within the walls of the Matrona Church of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent of the Southern Capital, we inaugurate a new feast of the Metropolis – the celebration in honor of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Kazakhstan.

Our country is known throughout the Christian world as a place of suffering for the host of new martyrs and confessors of the 20th century. The ever-memorable Patriarch Alexy II wisely and succinctly called Kazakhstan “an Antimension spread out under the open sky.” Yet we also know that the history of Orthodoxy in the land of Kazakhstan stretches deep into the centuries. There are ancient traditions that the apostles Andrew and Thomas and their disciples preached in the regions of Central Asia, and that ascetic monks from Syria and Palestine traveled the Silk Road, spreading the Gospel.

Kazakhstan may rightly name among its heavenly protectors the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky – a righteous ruler of Rus’, brave champion of Orthodoxy and defender of the Fatherland, a just man, intercessor, peacemaker, and diplomat. According to historical accounts, he journeyed to the capital of the Mongol Empire – Karakorum – and the path of the saintly prince to the khan’s court passed through the Great Steppe and across the land where today stands the Southern Capital, Almaty. Accompanying him in his arduous journey was a great shrine – the wonderworking Feodorov Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. This icon of the Queen of Heaven first sanctified the territory of our country in the 13th century, and now, exact copies of the wonderworking image, “measured to measure” and blessed before the ancient icon in the city of Kostroma, adorn the churches of Kazakhstan.

A special place in the history of Orthodoxy in our land belongs to Archbishop Sophonius (Sokolsky), rightly called “the Apostle of the Great Steppe,” who labored here in the 19th century. Though not yet canonized, the saint is deeply venerated by the faithful. At present, materials are being collected for his canonization, and God willing, in the near future we shall become witnesses and participants in his glorification.

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7), exhorts the Apostle Paul.

It was in order to prayerfully honor all the righteous, ascetics, enlighteners, and sufferers who shone forth in the land of Kazakhstan – from ancient times until the 20th century – that this feast was established by the Synod of the Metropolis. Let us turn with all our hearts in prayer to our Kazakhstani saints, that they may send down upon us God’s blessing – to ease our sorrows, end our afflictions, dry our tears, heal our sicknesses, and, above all, to strengthen us on the Christian path, “so that others may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).” — From the homily of Metropolitan Alexander.