Feast Day of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. The Head of the Metropolitan District led the patronal celebrations of the Seraphim Church in Astana

August 1, 2025 – the celebration in honor of the uncovering of the relics of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, the Wonderworker.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church dedicated to Venerable Seraphim of Sarov in the city of Astana, marking its patronal feast day.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the dean of the Astana church district, Archimandrite Sergy (Karamyshev); the rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Protopriest Yevgeny Vorobyov; the cleric of the Seraphim church, Archimandrite Ioasaph (Serkez); the rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District, Protopriest Yevgeny Ivanov; the cleric of the Seraphim church, Hieromonk Silouan (Sinegubov); the sacristan of the Seraphim church, Protopriest Yevgeny Korolkov; the rector of the church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine in the village of Arshaly, Protopriest Vladimir Zhuchkov; the head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; the head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Deacon Ilya Davydov; Deacon Ioann Artemyev; Deacon Alexander Piven; Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

For the feast day, a reliquary was brought from the Iveron-Seraphim house church of the metropolitan residence in Almaty for the prayerful veneration of the faithful. It contained relics of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov: a piece of the stone on which the venerable elder prayed for a thousand days and nights, a strand of his hair, and fragments of his clothing and vestments.

Liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the cathedral under the direction of Olga Varentsova.

Orthodox residents of the capital and faithful from nearby localities prayed at the service.

The sermon after the Communion verse was delivered by Protopriest Yevgeny Ivanov.

The Liturgy concluded with a glorification (slavlenie) of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov before the reliquary containing the saint’s relics, after which the archpastor addressed those gathered with a sermon.

Many years (Polychronion) was proclaimed for His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’; the Head and hierarchs of the Kazakh Metropolitan District; the President of the country, K.-Zh.K. Tokayev; the authorities, armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan.

On August 1, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan also commemorates the anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate. In 1983, on the feast day of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, in the Holy Seraphim Cathedral of the city of Kirov, the ever-memorable Archbishop Chrysanf (Chepil; †2011, later Metropolitan of Vyatka and Sloboda) ordained his secretary and subdeacon Alexander Mogilev to the diaconate.

On behalf of the clergy and laity, Archimandrite Sergy (Karamyshev) congratulated the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on this memorable date.

In his address, Metropolitan Alexander thanked the dean, the clergy, and the faithful for their kind words and extended well-wishes, and delivered the following homily:

“Venerable Seraphim has left us many deep and wise teachings which, at the same time, are simple in their content and based on the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers. We draw many saving lessons from the well-known saying of Father Seraphim: ‘Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.’ The good and righteous spiritual state of a person filled with the Holy Spirit spreads to many. But it is also important to remember that sin, once it enters a person’s heart, gradually infects more and more people. Therefore, desiring salvation for ourselves and for our loved ones, wishing to eradicate sins and vices in society, we must first begin with ourselves – to live virtuously, to acquire holiness, to be transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

An important means of acquiring grace, according to the venerable, is prayer: ‘Prayer most of all brings the Spirit of God, and it is the easiest for everyone to perform… There is always an opportunity to pray – for the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the healthy and the sick, the righteous and the sinner.’

Venerable Seraphim calls everyone, by his example and teachings, to follow the path shown by Christ. He calls us to struggle with sin and with our shortcomings, being himself a beacon and a light for all who seek salvation.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.