Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Karabulak on the occasion of the patronal feast

July 17, 2025 – the commemoration day of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers: Emperor Nicholas, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexei, and the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the only church in Kazakhstan dedicated to the Royal Passion-Bearers, located at the metochion in the village of Klyuchi (Karabulak), Almaty Region.

His Eminence was concelebrated by: Protopriest Valery Zakharov, Dean of the parishes of the Southern Capital and Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral; Protopriest Georgy Kharlov, Rector of the Church of St. John the Forerunner in the village of Guldala; Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky), Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Arseny (Voloshin); Hieromonk Alexy (Samosenkov), Cleric of the Church of St. Alexei in the village of Bayterek; Hieromonk Meletius (Chernov); Priest Kirill Freigang, Rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in the city of Talgar; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, and Deacon Bogdan Boyko.

Praying at the service were: Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) of the Iveron–Seraphim Convent with sisters of the monastery; staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration; pilgrims from Almaty and from towns and villages of the Almaty Region.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Convent’s Cathedral of Holy Wisdom under the direction of O. Usoltseva.

The homily after the Communion verse was delivered by Priest Kirill Freigang.

After Communion, a sacred object was brought out into the center of the church – a reliquary containing a stone from the execution room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where the Royal Family suffered martyrdom. The relic was transferred to the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan in 2012 by Archbishop Vikentiy of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye (now Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District).

The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers, followed by the chanting of the Polychronion for the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church – His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’; for the Head, archpastors, clergy, and flock of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan; for the President, authorities, armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan.

During the chanting of the Polychronion, Metropolitan Alexander blessed the clergy and faithful with the cross, after which he addressed the parishioners with an archpastoral word.

The Church in honor of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers in Kazakhstan was established with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan in the village of Klyuchi (Karabulak) of the Almaty Region. The church is a scaled-down replica of the church in the Crimean town of Oreanda, which is historically connected to the Imperial House of Romanov.

Between 1843 and 1852, after Oreanda became the property of the Imperial Family, a palace was erected in Lower Oreanda, which burned down thirty years later. In memory of this tragic event, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich laid the foundation for the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos on one of the nearby hills in 1884. The well-known architect A.A. Avdeev, who also designed the Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Sevastopol, created the project. The church was constructed within six months in the Georgian–Byzantine style.

The splendid mosaic icons and ornamental designs adorning the interior were produced by the workshop of A. Salviati. The decoration of the church also involved such renowned artists and ornamentalists as Prince G.G. Gagarin, former Vice President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and Academicians D.I. Grimm and M.V. Vasiliev. At the turn of the 20th century, the church was considered one of the most beautiful on the southern coast of Crimea.

In this blessed place, St. Righteous John of Kronstadt once served. It was here that the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna confessed and received Holy Communion. Beginning with Emperor Alexander III, the entire royal family, along with all Grand Dukes and Duchesses, would come here to pray during their stays on the southern coast.

The Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Klyuchi is adorned with frescoes painted by iconographers from the town of Palekh (Russia, Ivanovo Region), under the direction of V.K. Kurilov, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia.

A monument to the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova was erected in 2014 in the square near the church.

Among the sacred objects of the church is a reliquary containing a stone from the execution room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where the Royal Family suffered martyrdom. This relic was transferred to the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan in 2012 by Archbishop Vikentiy of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye (now Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District).

ORTHODOX CHURСH OF KAZAKHSTAN

Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers in the village of Karabulak on the occasion of the patronal feast

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