On the Feast of the Wonderworking Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrated the Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral of Kazakhstan’s Southern Capital

August 29, 2025 – the Afterfeast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the commemoration of the Transfer of the Image Not-Made-by-Hands of the Lord Jesus Christ from Edessa to Constantinople, and the day of celebration of the manifestation of the great holy treasure of Orthodoxy – the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan presided at the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty, where a copy “measured to measure” of the wonderworking original is kept.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the Vicars of the Astana Diocese – Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Dean of the churches of Almaty and Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Protopriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Almaty, Protopriest Evgeny Vorobyev; Head of the Department of Education and Catechesis of the Metropolis, Rector of the Pokrovsky Church and the Church of the Assembly of the Most Holy Theotokos in Almaty, Protopriest Evgeny Bobylev; Dean of the Ascension Cathedral and Head of the Public Relations Department of the Metropolis, Protopriest Alexander Suvorov; Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and Head of the Publishing and Information Department of the Metropolis, Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov; Dean of the Nativity Cathedral, Protopriest Alexander Gaychenya; Dean of the Ili Church District, Protopriest Alexander Zyryanov; Rector of the Epiphany Church, Protopriest Valery Shavrin; Rector of the Paraskeva Church, Protopriest Ioann Lopatin; Rector of St. John the Baptist Church in the village of Guldala, Protopriest Georgy Kharlov; Dean of the St. Nicholas Church, Protopriest Igor Svetlichny; Dean of the Peter and Paul Church, Protopriest Kirill Shklyar; rectors and clergy of the Almaty Diocese. The deacons were led by Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich.

Praying at the service were: staff of the Almaty diocesan administration, students of the Almaty Theological Seminary, and parishioners of the cathedral.

Also praying at the Liturgy in the main church of the southern capital was V.M. Kapsamun, president of the public foundation ELEOS-MEIRIM.

Hymns were sung by the choir of the Metropolis (conductor – Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, choirmaster – V. Dudareva) and the choir of the Ascension Cathedral (conductor – E. Boguslavets).

During the service, special prayers were offered for His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, Nun Martha, and Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, who received the blessing for his reign from the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God; the ever-memorable Archbishop Kassian (Yaroslavsky) of Kostroma and Galich, and other hierarchs of Kostroma – keepers of the Feodorovsky image.

The homily after the communion verse was delivered by Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov.

The service concluded with glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos before the icon of the Epitaphios of the Queen of Heaven and the Feodorovskaya Icon, after which Metropolitan Alexander warmly congratulated the hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laity on the solemn celebrations dedicated to the Mother of God. In his sermon, Metropolitan Alexander recounted the history of the discovery of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Theotokos, the grace-filled help, and miracles manifested through this image.

Video recording of the metropolitan’s service was carried out by the television studio Semirechye of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan (director – Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, cameraman – A. Schmidt); photographs were taken by Information Department staff member A. Khalin.

At the conclusion of the service, the Head of the Metropolis congratulated the clergy of the Almaty Diocese who are commemorating anniversaries in 2025.

“The wonderworking Feodorovskaya Icon of the Queen of Heaven is one of the most ancient in the Orthodox Church. Before this image of the Most Blessed Theotokos prayed the builders of Holy Rus’, before it bowed hierarchs and sovereigns, before it called for heavenly intercession venerable ones and righteous. The Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God was especially venerated by the Holy Confessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Almaty; the elder-hierarch Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov); the Confessor Sebastian of Karaganda; and many sufferers for Christ who shone forth in the land of Kazakhstan in the 20th century.

This holy image, having passed with our people through many hardships and trials, has become a visible sign of God’s help to all who in faith turn to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother.

Our gratitude to the Queen of Heaven should be expressed not only in words, but in concrete actions. Saint Luke, Archbishop of Crimea, the physician, says: ‘Glorifying the Most Holy Theotokos, let us remember that we must not only praise Her, but also guard our hearts from that which is contrary to Her heart, which is contrary to Her holiness.’ The Mother of God is called more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, but despite all Her greatness She is for us a good example in virtues. From Holy Scripture we see in the Mother of God such qualities as humility, modesty, and obedience to the will of God. Therefore, when asking the Most Holy Theotokos for what we need in this earthly life, let us not forget to ask for what is most important, for the one thing needful (cf. Lk. 10:41-42) – for the heavenly gifts necessary for the salvation of the soul. We need spiritual strength and vigilance to fulfill the commandments. We all deeply need a merciful heart, one that can love selflessly and sacrificially, forgive, sympathize, and understand.”

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander