On the Commemoration Day of St. Luke of Crimea, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrated the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ’s Nativity in Alma‑Ata

June 11, 2025 – Commemoration day of Saint and Physician Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior of Alma‑Ata – the Cathedral in honor of the Nativity of Christ.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: vicars of the Astana Diocese – Chancellor of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; rector of the Alma‑Ata church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyov; sacristan of the Cathedral of Christ’s Nativity Protopriest Alexander Gaichenya; dean of the Ili church district Protopriest Alexander Zyryanov; rector of the Epiphany church of the Southern capital Protopriest Valeriy Shavrin; chairman of the Society of Orthodox Physicians of Kazakhstan Protopriest Anatoly Izmerov; rector of the Nativity of the Mother of God church in the Akzhar microdistrict Hieromonk Alexiy (Cherevtsov); head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); head of the administrative secretariat of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov; and clergy of the churches of the Alma‑Ata Diocese. The diaconal rank was led by Protodeacon Nikolay Grinkevich.

For the prayerful veneration and spiritual strengthening of the faithful, a reliquary containing relics of St. Luke of Crimea was present in the cathedral.

The choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior of Alma‑Ata sang under the direction of E. Skorova.

Among those praying at the service were members of the Society of Orthodox Physicians of Kazakhstan; employees of the medical center named after St. Luke; staff of the Alma‑Ata diocesan administration; and parishioners of the cathedral.

The homily after the Communion verse was delivered by the sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma‑Ata, Priest Georgy Rublinsky.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, a glorification to the feast of the Holy Trinity and to the honored servant of God was performed before the relics of the venerable confessor and healer Luke.

Metropolitan Alexander sincerely thanked the archpastors, clergy, monastics, parishioners, and pilgrims for the shared prayer, congratulated those present on the feast in honor of the Crimean saint, and delivered a sermon.

The Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District offered words of blessing to Priest Dimitriy Rezhepa on the anniversary of his priestly ordination:

“A world-renowned surgeon, an outstanding scholar, professor of medicine, recipient of the state prize, author of many unique academic works, he was glorified by the Church as a zealous ascetic of piety, sufferer for the faith of Christ, intercessor and herald of the Gospel teaching. From childhood, his heart was ruled by love for God and neighbor. These holy qualities he embodied in his service as both pastor and surgeon.

For decades, without days off or holidays, sparing neither heart nor body, he labored in the medical field, especially helping the poor and needy. Working as a surgeon in Tashkent, the future hierarch actively participated in church life. The words of Bishop Innocent of Tashkent and Turkestan, ‘Doctor, you must become a priest,’ he accepted as a divine calling. After three years of service in the presbyterate, Father Valentin received monastic tonsure with the name of the holy Apostle, Evangelist, and Physician Luke. On May 31, 1923, Hieromonk Luke, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Rus’, was secretly consecrated Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan. From that time began his cross-bearing path of confession.

Numerous arrests, mockery, torture, and exile did not diminish the zeal of the saint in fulfilling his archpastoral duty and medical practice. In his third exile near Krasnoyarsk, at the outset of the Great Patriotic War, Bishop Luke offered his surgical skill to the authorities for the treatment of wounded soldiers. Thousands of servicemen were saved from death or lifelong disability. Until the end of his earthly life, despite serious illness and hardship, the saint regularly served divine services, constantly preached, and received the suffering.

The venerable confessor Luke reposed in the Lord on June 11, 1961. God glorified His servant with abundant miracles: through the prayers of the saint many healings from various ailments have occurred and continue. In 2000, at the Jubilee Council of the Russian Orthodox Church he was canonized as a saint and confessor.

In praising this wise saint and merciful physician in prayers and hymns, we must remember his teachings, his lessons of righteousness, with which he tirelessly addressed his flock: ‘In works of mercy we can show great zeal, great diligence; we can always be merciful to the destitute, the hungry, the sick, to the downcast and discouraged – we can, we can be merciful!’

May the Lord, through the prayers of the saint and physician Luke, grant us not only bodily and spiritual health, but also the grace-filled strength to live by deeds, not words, a life based on the Gospel.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.