On the Sunday of the Blind Man, the Head of the Metropolitan District Celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Almaty

May 25, 2025 – Sixth Sunday after Pascha, the Sunday of the Blind Man; commemoration of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, St. Germanus of Constantinople, and the Holy Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia the Wonderworker; and the remembrance of the uncovering of the relics of Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky in Almaty.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the vicars of the Astana Diocese – Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; protopriest Valery Zakharov – Dean of the Churches of Almaty and Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral; protopriest Yevgeny Vorobyev – Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Almaty; protopriest Yevgeny Ivanov – Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and Head of the Metropolitan District’s Department of Information and Publishing; protopriest Alexander Suvorov – Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral and Head of the Public Relations Department; protopriest Alexander Zyryanov – Dean of the Ili Church District; protopriest Valery Shavrin – Rector of the Theophany Church; protopriest Ioann Lopatin – Rector of the Church of St. Paraskeva; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky) – Head of the Metropolitan’s Private Secretariat; priest Georgy Sidorov – Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Metropolitan District; priest Daniil Bobylev – Head of the Correspondence Department of the Almaty Seminary; priest Ioann Konoplev – Sacristan of the Adriano-Natalievsky Church; priest Georgy Rublinsky – Sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral in Almaty; protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; protodeacon Roman Golovin – Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service; protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; deacon Yevgeny Esaulenko – Representative of the Synodal Youth Department; deacon Ioann Churkin; and deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

Praying at the service were: V.M. Kapsamun – Director of the Eleos Charitable Foundation, parishioners and benefactors of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

For the prayerful veneration and spiritual strengthening of the faithful, a reliquary containing a fragment of the Stone from the Lord’s Tomb was brought to the church.

The liturgical hymns were sung by the cathedral choir under the direction of A. Kulmetov.

The homily after the Communion hymn was delivered by protopriest Yevgeny Ivanov.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy, glorification was offered to the Radiant Resurrection of Christ and prayers were lifted to the saints commemorated that day. Metropolitan Alexander then proclaimed the Paschal greeting “Christ is Risen!” in various ancient and modern languages.

At the conclusion of the service, His Eminence addressed those gathered with an archpastoral sermon, and blessed the faithful with holy water.

A live broadcast of the entire service was provided on the “Proobraz” YouTube channel, with the support of the Eleos Foundation (Director – V.M. Kapsamun).

“Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles told of the miraculous deliverance of the disciples Paul and Silas from prison. The jailer – the chief guard – first became a witness to the fervent midnight prayers of the apostles, then to the earthquake that opened the prison doors and unshackled the prisoners. Struck by what he had seen, he asked Paul and Silas the most important question of his life – a question that eventually arises before every thinking person: ‘What must I do to be saved?’ And he received a simple yet complete answer: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved – you and your household.’ This man was sincerely seeking the meaning of life, and the Lord, through apostolic preaching, revealed to him the path to Truth and opened the gates of salvation, pointing him toward the life-giving light of faith. ‘What is harsher, what is more unyielding than a prison guard?’ asks Saint John Chrysostom, reflecting on today’s apostolic passage. And yet, even this man – once hardened in heart – believed, rejoiced, and was baptized together with all his household. The theme of spiritual enlightenment and faith in Christ – the true Light Who enlightens and sanctifies every person – continues in the Gospel reading. The Evangelist John recounts the healing by the Lord of a man blind from birth. The Savior not only granted him physical sight – restoring to him the material world and its light – but brought him to spiritual vision. The miracle of seeing led the man to believe in the Son of God. Meanwhile, the scribes and Pharisees – who prided themselves on their knowledge of the Law and the minutiae of Scripture and Tradition – remained spiritually blind, despite the fact that their physical eyes were open. Today, the Word of God teaches us that only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ brings salvation and opens our spiritual eyes, darkened by sin. It enlightens the path of a Christian like bright rays of the sun – helping us discern spiritual realities, to distinguish good from evil, truth from falsehood, and the eternal from the fleeting and vain.”— From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.