On the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Almaty church dedicated to the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos

October 14, 2025 – the Feast of the Protection of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever‑Virgin Mary.

The Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God was established in Rus’ during the reign of the pious Prince Andrei Yurievich Bogolyubsky. It is based on a miracle that occurred in the year 910, as described in the Life of St. Andrew the Fool‑for‑Christ of Constantinople. When barbarian pagans laid siege to Constantinople, the people gathered in the Church of Blachernae to pray for deliverance. During the service, the Theotokos appeared miraculously in the church and, as a sign of her protection over the city, spread her veil over the faithful. Through the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, the city was saved and the enemy fled in fear from the walls of Constantinople.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the lower church of the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos Cathedral in honor of the Righteous Joachim and Anna in the city of Almaty.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the vicars of the Astana Diocese – Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Kazakhstani Metropolitan District, and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; the Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Belarusian Orthodox Church for Cooperation with Secular Educational Institutions, Archpriest Fyodor Povny; Rector of the Almaty church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Yevgeny Vorobyov; Head of the Education and Catechization Department of the Metropolitan District, Rector of the Church of the Protection and the Church of the Synaxis of the Theotokos in Almaty Archpriest Yevgeny Bobylev; Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary and Head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District, Candidate of Theology Archpriest Yevgeny Ivanov; Dean of the Nativity Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Gaychenya; Rector of the Theophany Church Archpriest Valery Shavrin; Dean of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul Archpriest Kirill Shklyar; Rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the Akzhar microdistrict Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov); Head of the Metropolitan’s Private Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov; cleric of the Church of St. John the Theologian Hieromonk Gennady (Solovyov); Head of the Correspondence Department of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary Priest Daniil Bobylev; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, and Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

In attendance at the Liturgy were: teachers and students of the Theology and Missionary Faculty of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary, teachers and pupils of the parish Sunday school named after the Apostle John the Theologian, and parishioners of the church.

Liturgical hymns were sung by the choir of the Church of the Synaxis of the Theotokos and the children’s choir of the St. John the Theologian Gymnasium under the direction of O. Kartauzova.

The sermon after the Communion hymn was delivered by Archpriest Fyodor Povny.

Following the Liturgy, a glorification service was held before the Icon of the Protection of the Theotokos – the clergy and choir sang the troparion, kontakion, and magnification of the feast.

Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the rector, Archpriest Yevgeny Bobylev, the clergy, and parishioners on the patronal feast and delivered a sermon reflecting on the significance of the celebration.

In recognition of her labors for the benefit of the Almaty Diocese and in honor of her birthday, His Eminence awarded I.V. Bykova, a teacher at the Sunday school of the Ascension Cathedral, the Order of Archbishop Sophonius (Sokolsky), the first hierarch of the Turkestan Diocese and Apostle of Semirechye.

Filming of the service was carried out by the Orthodox TV studio “Semirechye” (director – Honored Cultural Worker V. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photography – by A. Khalin.

A live broadcast of the entire festive Liturgy was held on the Proobraz YouTube channel with the support of the public foundation Eleos‑Meirim (President – V.M. Kapsamun).

“In the life of the Church of Christ, in the historical destinies of nations, in the lives of the saints, and in the personal 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 a source of divine grace for the whole universe. Saint Gregory the Theologian says: ‘To each of the elect was given grace in part, but to the Virgin – the fullness of grace.’ Celebrating and glorifying the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, singing prayers and lighting candles, we must remember that the best praise we can offer to the Mother of God is a life in accordance with 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 those at the feast. These same words She now addresses to each of us, calling us to listen to the Lord Jesus Christ and to fulfill His commands. Saint John of Damascus reminds us that the Theotokos ‘is grieved by every evil and saddened, rejoices in every virtue as in her own gift.’ Being not only the Mother of Christ but also His faithful disciple, She expects the same from us – that we may hear the word of God and keep it (cf. Luke 11:28).”

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander