The memory of the martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia – heavenly patrons of Semirechye – prayerfully honored in Almaty

September 30, 2025 – the afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the day of commemoration of the heavenly patrons of the city of Almaty and Semirechye – the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia.

On September 17 (30 according to the new style), 1854, on the day of the holy martyrs, the Zailiyskoye military fortification was solemnly consecrated and renamed as the city of Verny – in honor of the martyr Faith. At the same time, the first Cossack stanitsas founded at the foot of the Zailiysky Alatau by settlers from Western Siberia were named in memory of the heavenly patrons of Semirechye: Nadezhdinskaya (Issyk), Sofiyskaya (Talgar), and Lyubavinskaya (Kaskelen).

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the festive Divine Liturgy at the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent in Almaty – for which the day of the martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and Sophia is the patronal feast – was celebrated by Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

His Grace was concelebrated by: clergy of the St. Sophia Cathedral of the convent – Archpriest Alexander Sokolov, Hieromonk Roman (Chistyakov), and Priest Alexander Alferov; Hieromonk Alexy (Samosenkov), cleric of the Church of St. Alexius in the village of Baiterek; Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Priest Petr Bakhtiyarov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Almaty Theological Seminary; Hieromonk Meletius (Chernov); Protodeacon Roman Golovin, head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service; Hierodeacon Athanasius (Kozel), Deacon Bogdan Boyko, Deacon Andrei Plakhuta, Deacon Roman Karaman, and Deacon Elijah Vorobyov.

In the center of the cathedral, beside the Life-Giving Cross of Christ, there was a reliquary icon with relics of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and Sophia.

Praying during the service were: Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent with the sisters of the monastery; Ataman V.S. Shikhotov of the Republican Public Association “Union of Cossacks of Semirechye,” Chairman of the Almaty City Branch of the Public Association “Association of Russian, Slavic and Cossack Organizations of Kazakhstan,” and a member of the “Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan”; staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration; students of the children’s choir of the Orthodox singing school “Tsevnitsa” at the Ascension Cathedral (director – N.O. Golovina); and parishioners of churches of the Southern Capital.

The choir of the St. Sophia Cathedral was conducted by O. Usoltseva.

During the litany for the departed, special commemoration was made for the reposed abbesses of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent: Nun Paisiya (Kryuchkova), Abbess Nectaria (Dmitrieva), and Abbess Euphrosyne (Bakurevich).

The service concluded with the veneration of the precious and life-giving Cross and glorification of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia.

At the end of the Liturgy, Bishop Gennady delivered a homily.

On the feast day of the martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia, Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent celebrates her name day. The Chancellor of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated the Mother Abbess, presented her with a holy prosphora, and gifted a bouquet of flowers.

After the service, the students of the “Tsevnitsa” Orthodox singing school of the Ascension Cathedral of the Southern Capital congratulated Abbess Lyubov on her special spiritual celebration and wished her God’s help in her service to the Church of Christ.

In a phone conversation, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan congratulated the Abbess of the monastery on her name day and the patronal feast of the convent, wishing her spiritual and physical well-being and God’s help in monastic labors and ecclesiastical obediences.