The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos – Patronal Feast of the Main Cathedral of Kazakhstan. Celebrations in the Capital Led by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan

August 28, 2025 – the Great Feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the main cathedral of Kazakhstan – the Dormition Cathedral of Astana, marking its patronal feast.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk, Archbishop Amphilochius of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk, Archbishop Varsonofy of Kokshetau and Akmola, Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), Dean of the Astana Church District; Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyov, rector of the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”; Hieromonk Dimitry (Baydek), sacristan of the Dormition Cathedral; Hieromonk Siluan (Sinegubov), cleric of the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Astana; Hieromonk Prochor (Endovitsky), head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat; Priest Sergy Pinigin; Priest Sergy Dianov; clergy of the Astana deanery; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Ilya Davydov; Deacon Mikhail Chumakov; Deacon Ioann Yanchuk; Deacon Alexander Piven; Deacon Georgy Tkachenko; Deacon Yaroslav Vokhmencev.

At the Liturgy prayed: members of the Astana Orthodox Youth Movement, teachers, and students of the central Sunday school.

The choir of the cathedral, conducted by Olga Varentsova, performed the liturgical singing.

After the Eucharistic canon, Metropolitan Alexander ordained Reader Nikolai Goryachev, sacristan of the Dormition Cathedral, to the diaconate.

The sermon after the Communion hymn was delivered by Protopriest Dimitry (Baydek).

The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos before the epitaphios adorned with flowers and grapevines, after which a procession was held around the cathedral.

Many years were proclaimed to: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church; the Head and hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan; the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev; the authorities, armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan.

The Head of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan blessed the faithful with the icon of the feast and sprinkled them with holy water, then warmly congratulated the hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laity on the “Pascha of the Mother of God” and the patronal day, and delivered a homily.

«Today is a great church celebration – the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. ‘Neither the tomb nor death could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions,’ resound the joyful words of the ancient hymn. This sacred event has been specially venerated by the faithful since apostolic times, for on the day of the Dormition the greatness of the Mother of God was revealed in its fullness – her ineffable holiness, the beauty of her virtues, and the purity of her soul, surpassing even the highest angelic powers – the cherubim and seraphim. ‘The All-Pure Virgin is exalted above all and everything,’ says St. Gregory Palamas in his homily on this feast – ‘She alone, standing between God and the human race, made God the Son of Man, and made men sons of God; She made the earth Heaven and deified the human race.’

Tradition has preserved for us the details of the Dormition of the Theotokos. On the icon of the feast we see its central moment – the Lord Jesus Christ descending in heavenly glory, surrounded by angelic hosts, to the bier of His Mother, to receive her immortal soul. ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life’ (John 5:24). This Gospel promise was fulfilled in full measure in the Most Holy Theotokos – She passed through the law of nature common to mankind and lay in the tomb, but Her life did not end; death lost its power over the Most Pure Virgin, becoming for Her the gateway to blessed eternity. That is why this feast is called the Dormition, and among the faithful it is called the ‘Pascha of the Mother of God.’

‘Your death became a passage to eternal and better life, O Pure One, transferring You, O Immaculate One, from temporal life to truly divine and unchanging life,’ we read in the canon of the feast. Leaving the earth, the Mother of the Lord ascended into Heaven to reign eternally with Her Son and God. St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes: ‘She reigns in heaven, She, as the Mother of the Heavenly King, is proclaimed Queen of Heaven, Queen of the holy angels and of the holy people.’

We remember the words of the Savior from the Gospel, spoken before His Ascension: ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matt. 28:20). The Lord only visibly parted from His disciples, yet in all ages He abides with His Church, with all who believe in Him, with each of us. In the same way, the Most Holy Theotokos, having been translated into the heavenly dwellings and enthroned over Heaven and earth, has not parted nor withdrawn from the Christian people. On the contrary, through Her Dormition She has become closer to those who believe in Her maternal protection and call upon Her in prayer. ‘While You lived with men,’ says St. Andrew of Crete addressing the Queen of Heaven, ‘You were possessed by a small portion of the earth; but since You have left the earth, the whole world possesses You as common intercession.’

Indeed, in the life of the Church, in the historical destiny of our Fatherland, in the lives of the saints, and in the life of every believer, one can see the saving power of the Most Holy Theotokos. Chosen from among all people, She became the Mother of the Savior and forever the source of divine gifts for the whole universe. St. Gregory the Theologian says: ‘To each of the chosen was given grace in part, but to the Virgin – the fullness of grace.’

Celebrating and glorifying the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, chanting prayers and lighting candles, we must remember that our best praise of the Mother of God is life according to the Gospel commandments. ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’ (John 2:5), said the Mother of the Savior at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, addressing the wedding guests. These words She addresses to each of us, calling us to hear the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfill His commands. St. John of Damascus reminds us that the Theotokos ‘is grieved by every evil and rejoices in every virtue as in her own gift.’ She Herself, being not only the Mother of Christ but also His faithful disciple, expects us to hear the word of God and keep it (cf. Luke 11:28).

The Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is the patronal feast of the Dormition Cathedral of the capital – the main church of our country, blessed Kazakhstan, sanctified by the feats of the new martyrs and confessors. St. Hieromartyr Nicholas, Metropolitan of Almaty, addressed the faithful on this day with such an exhortation: ‘Accustom yourselves to glorify the Queen of Heaven, and She, the Merciful One, will not forsake you with Her intercession both in this life and at the hour of death.’ Let us follow the legacy of the apostles and hierarchs, of the venerable and the righteous, of the ancient martyrs and the new sufferers for Christ, and let us at every time and every hour call upon the name of the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God and our Mother. Let us pray before the epitaphios depicting the ever-vigilant Theotokos, that the Queen of Heaven may sanctify our lives with divine grace, grant us the mercy of Her Son and our God, and vouchsafe us to behold the radiant face of the Mother of God in the blessed Kingdom of the Heavenly Father.»

 From the homily of Metropolitan Alexander.