Commemoration of the Holy Martyr Pimen, Bishop of Verny and Semirechye, in Almaty

September 16, 2025. Almaty, Baum Grove.

On the day of the commemoration of the holy martyr Pimen (Belolikov, †1918), Bishop of Verny and Semirechye, a prayer service was held at the site of his martyrdom for Christ. The service was led, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, by the dean of the parishes of Almaty, Archpriest Valery Zakharov, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Serving with him in prayer were: Archpriest Evgeny Bobylev, head of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Metropolis and rector of the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God and of the Church of the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos; Archpriest Alexander Gaichenya, keyholder of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral; Archpriest Valery Shavrin, rector of the Epiphany Church; Archpriest Georgy Kharlov, rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the village of Guldala; Hieromonk Pimen (Tkachenko), rector of the Church of St. Xenia in Konaev; and other clergy of the Almaty Diocese.

The commemoration was attended by teachers and students of the parish school of St. John the Theologian, pupils of Sunday schools, and parishioners of the churches of the southern capital. The clergy choir of the Almaty Diocese sang at the service.

During the memorial litany, the names of Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), elder hierarch of Kazakhstan, as well as other hierarchs, clergy, and Orthodox Christians who “in the time of fierce persecutions by the godless were tortured and slain, or who died from hunger, cold, wounds, illness, and forced labor” were prayerfully remembered.

At the conclusion of the moleben, Archpriest Valery Zakharov delivered a homily on the significance of the martyrdom of the confessors of Christ in the 20th century for the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and on the importance of honoring the new martyrs and confessors in the spiritual life of every believer.

The service ended with the sprinkling of the faithful with holy water.