1 June 2025 – Seventh Sunday after Pascha, the Afterfeast of the Ascension of the Lord. On this day, the Orthodox Church prayerfully remembers and glorifies the feat of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, which was held in 325 in Nicaea.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in the city of Almaty.
Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan were: Archbishop Barnabas of Pavlodar and Ekibastuz; Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk; Archbishop Amphilochius of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk; Archbishop Barsanuphius of Kokshetau and Akmola; Archbishop Vladimir of Petropavlovsk and Bulaevo; Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan; Bishop Ignaty of Aktobe and Kyzylorda; Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Diocese of Astana; Bishop Chrysanthus of Shymkent and Turkestan; Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, Vicar of the Diocese of Astana; Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; Protopriest Valery Zakharov, Dean of the Almaty District and Rector of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas; Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), Dean of the Astana Church District; Protopriest Eugene Vorobyov, Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”; Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Spiritual Father of the Diocese of Almaty; Protopriest Alexander Suvorov, Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral and Head of the Department for Church–Public Relations of the Metropolis; Protopriest Eugene Ivanov, Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary and Head of the Information Department of the Metropolis; heads of departments and commissions of the Metropolis in holy orders; rectors and clergy of Almaty churches; clergy who arrived with the hierarchs.
The diaconal rank was led by Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich and Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Chief of Protocol for the Head of the Metropolis.
Liturgical hymns were performed by the choir of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan (conductor – O.N. Ovchinnikov, Honored Artist of Russia, member of the Patriarchal Council for Church Music Development, Secretary of the Metropolis; choirmaster – V. Dudareva) and the small choir of the Ascension Cathedral (conductor – Igumen Philip (Moiseev)).
Among those praying at the Liturgy were staff of the Diocesan Administration of Almaty, students of the Almaty Theological Seminary, members of the Cossack host, and parishioners of the main church of the southern capital.
During the litany for the departed, prayers were offered for the newly reposed Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko). That day marked the 40th day since his repose in the Lord.
Following the communion hymn, Protopriest Alexander Suvorov read aloud the message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council.
The service concluded with the chanting of praises to the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord and to the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, after which a polychronion was proclaimed for: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church; the Head, hierarchs, clergy, and flock of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan; the President, authorities, armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan. Metropolitan Alexander then addressed the faithful with a homily.
The Head of the Metropolis sprinkled the faithful with holy water.
Representatives of the Union of the Cossacks of Semirechye – headed by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov, a member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan – actively participated in maintaining order and security.
Video coverage of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan, Semirechye (director – Honored Cultural Worker V.L. Posadneva; cameraman – A. Schmidt), while photography was provided by A. Khalin of the Metropolis’ Information Department.
A live broadcast of the service was streamed on the YouTube channel Proobraz, initiated and supported by the public foundation ELEOS-MEIRIM (director – V.M. Kapsamun).
«From the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord to the Day of the Holy Trinity, the Church devotes her prayerful remembrance to the expectation of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. Before ascending into Heaven to God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples: ‘Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high… for John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence’ (cf. Acts 1:4–5). And we too, like the Apostles, pray for the renewal within us of the grace of God, which once descended upon the Savior’s disciples on the day of Pentecost and continues to be abundantly poured out upon those who believe in Christ through the holy mysteries and sacramental life of the Church.
In the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, the image of the Church of Christ is revealed to us – a Church outside of which there is no salvation, no becoming children of God or inheritors of His eternal Kingdom. We recall the victorious and consoling words of our Lord in the Gospel: ‘I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Matt. 16:18), and ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world’ (Matt. 28:20). Only by abiding in the Church of Christ, which is His Body (Eph. 1:23), and by being faithful and obedient children of the Church, do we find God, are mystically united with Him, and through this union attain the fullness of being, filling our lives with true meaning and inheriting eternity.
Between the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, there shines with a special grace-filled radiance the Sunday dedicated to the memory of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. The Fathers and teachers of the Church, who gathered in Nicaea in 325 – successors of the Apostles and continuators of the labors of Christ’s disciples – revealed to the whole world the truth of the action of the Holy Spirit within the Body of the Church, the life-giving and renewing power of Divine grace which strengthens believers and preserves them from disorder, heresies, and schisms.
The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council exposed the errors of the false teacher Arius, revealed the contradiction between his speculations and the Gospel proclamation, and stood firmly against the heresy he introduced, which threatened to sever people from the divinely revealed truth. Arius, being proud and influenced by pagan religious thinking, taught that the Lord Jesus Christ was not the incarnate Son of God – that He was not God. Eloquent and zealous in preaching, Arius led astray a great multitude. Powerful figures of the world supported him, and even highly educated members of society were drawn to his ideas. But only the power of the Holy Spirit, acting in the Church through her Fathers and teachers – one of whom was the deacon Athanasius, the future Archbishop of Alexandria, later called the Great for his labors – was able to expose and overcome this heresy.
Each of us is familiar with the chief fruit of the labors of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, even those who have never read church history or theological books. The result of their work is the Creed we all know well. Its first part, proclaiming the Son of God as ‘begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father,’ was composed precisely then, in 325, in the city of Nicaea at the Ecumenical Council.
As we commemorate this glorious event and celebrate the memory of the Holy participants of the First Ecumenical Council – these glorious Fathers and teachers of the Church – we must honor them worthily. And the best way to praise them is to remain faithful to their legacy: firm and unwavering confession of the Orthodox faith, abiding within the canonical boundaries of the Church of Christ, raising our children and grandchildren in the Gospel truth, and laboring, each according to their strength, for the spiritual enlightenment of our loved ones.»
From the homily of Metropolitan Alexander.
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