July 7, 2025 – The Nativity of the honorable and glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord John.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia at the Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow – the Representation of the Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Vice-Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Hegumen Agafangel (Gagua); Sacristan of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia Hieromonk Antony (Drobyazko); and the clergy of the Metochion.
The choir of the church sang under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.
Praying during the service were: Secretary of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Choir Director of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing, O.N. Ovchinnikov; staff of the Representation, patrons of the Patriarchal Metochion, and parishioners of the church.
The festive Liturgy concluded with a magnification to the Forerunner of the Lord John, after which the hierarch addressed those present with words of edification and sprinkled the faithful with holy water.
“Today in the Church calendar is a great feast – the Nativity of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John. Concerning him, the Savior Himself bore witness: ‘Among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist’ (Matthew 11:11). ‘Indeed, among those born of women there is no one greater than John the Baptist,’ interprets Venerable Macarius the Great, ‘because he is the fullness of all the prophets. All prophesied about the Lord, indicating His coming from afar, but John, prophesying about the Savior, presented Him before the eyes of all, crying out and saying: “Behold, the Lamb of God!”’
The Nativity of the Forerunner is recounted by the Evangelist Luke. In his Gospel text we read how the righteous priest Zacharias, during a divine service, was visited by the Archangel Gabriel. Seeing the fear and confusion of the elderly priest, the heavenly messenger said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John’ (Luke 1:11–13).
Zacharias, who with his righteous wife Elizabeth had reached old age in childlessness, did not believe what he saw and heard, and for this was struck with muteness until the birth of John the Forerunner. ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). A miracle occurred – the elderly and barren Elizabeth gave birth to a son, who, according to the words of the Archangel, ‘will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’ (Luke 1:16–17).
At a young age, Saint John withdrew into the wilderness, where he led a strict ascetic life. Emerging into the world, he began to preach the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ‘Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins’ (Matthew 3:5).
In the history of the New Testament Church, John the Forerunner is considered the first monk, the first preacher and enlightener, and the first martyr for the truth of Christ. The Baptist of the Lord presents to us the image of a man who was wholly, absolutely, and humbly devoted to God and his calling.
The Forerunner of Christ can serve as an example and model for believers, for each of us in some way, in relation to those around us and our neighbors, is often a forerunner of the Lord. Christ sends us into this world ahead of Himself, so that we may bring people the word of God and with our deeds show true righteousness, that we may help them to understand and accept the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
John the Forerunner worked no miracles, performed no signs, but by the word of truth and a holy life led a great multitude of his contemporaries to the knowledge of the Lord. In this, he is a teacher for us – showing that through love and mercy, honesty and kindness, by fulfilling the commandments of God, we may proclaim and bear witness to the Crucified and Risen Christ more powerfully than through any miracles or signs.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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