The Head of the Metropolitan District Consecrated the Protection Church in the Village of Asenkritovka

October 11, 2025. Beimbet Mailin District, Kostanay Region.

As part of the celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Kostanay Diocese, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, performed the rite of Lesser Consecration of the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Asenkritovka.

Praying during the consecration rite were: Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha), Secretary of the Kostanay Diocese; Protopriest Oleg Kalmykov, Dean of the Lisakovsk Church District and Rector of the Protection Church; Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky), Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat; Priest Andrey Krutin, Dean of the Kostanay Church District and Rector of the Kazan Icon Church in Tobyl; Clergy of the Kostanay Diocese and parishioners of the Protection Church.

Also present at the consecration were: the Akim of Rudny, V.N. Ionenko, and benefactors of the church.

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the clergy and parishioners on this significant event in the spiritual life of the village of Asenkritovka and of the entire Kostanay Diocese – the consecration of the newly built church. He then addressed words of heartfelt gratitude to all who, through prayer, sacrificial giving, or personal labor, helped in the building of the church dedicated to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.

In recognition of their labors in the construction and adornment of the church, the archpastor awarded the benefactors with high honors of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan.

As a gift to the Protection Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Alexander presented sacred icons – “Christ the Great High Priest” and the Theodorov Icon of the Mother of God.

“We have become participants in a spiritually significant event – today the rite of Lesser Consecration was performed for a church built in honor of our Sovereign Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos, in memory of Her miraculous appearance in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople, through which the capital of Byzantium was delivered from a formidable enemy.

In the life of the Church of Christ, in the historical destinies of nations and peoples, 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 became the source of divine gifts for the whole universe.

We have awaited this day for many years, and now, finally, within the walls of the newly built church, a special prayer has been offered, marking the beginning of full liturgical life in this place. The Apostle Paul addresses the believers in Christ: ‘For this is the will of God – your sanctification’ (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and it is precisely in the church that the spiritual transformation and purification of human nature takes place.

Every moment of human life is filled here with divine grace through the sacraments and sacred rites. The righteous Protopriest John of Kronstadt, reflecting on the importance of the church in human life, wrote: “The church is heaven on earth.”

According to the Psalmist David, the most precious and most necessary moments for the soul are those spent in encounter with God in His temple: “As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God – when shall I come and appear before the face of God?” (Psalm 42:1–2).

Let us, therefore, always hasten to this house of God dedicated to the Protection of the Queen of Heaven – both on feast days and on weekdays – bringing to the foot of the Lord’s altar our joys and sorrows, our prayers and praises, said, in particular, Metropolitan Alexander during the consecration.

All participants of the service were given small icons of Blessed Matrona of Moscow with the Metropolitan’s blessing.