On 2 November 2025 – the 21st Sunday after Pentecost; the commemoration day of the Holy Great Martyr Artemius of Antioch and of the Righteous Youth Artemius of Verkola; of the Holy Hieromartyrs Zosima Pepenin, Ioann (John) Ganchev, Ioann (John) Rechkin, Ioann (John) Rodionov, Nikolai Figurov, Leonid Nikolsky, Ioann (John) Talyzin and Alexander Orlov, priests, and of the deacons Mikhail Isaev and Petr Kravets, and of the martyr Pavel Bocharov, who suffered in Karaganda in 1937.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church in honor of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia at the Patriarchal Representation in the city of Moscow – the Representation of the Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
His Eminence was concelebrated by: Hieromonk Agafangel (Gagua), Vice-Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor; Hieromonk Antony (Drobyazko), Sacristan of the church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia; Hieromonk Daniil (Makagon); Deacon Anatoly Ledenev and Deacon Roman Frolov; clergy of the Representation.
The choir of the church sang under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.
After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the archpastor served a memorial litia for his parents – the ever-memorable Gennady Fedorovich and Anastasia Mikhailovna (2 November – the anniversary of her birth). During the Great Patriotic War she served as a nurse in a military hospital, tending the wounded, and afterwards, until her retirement, continued her medical service for the good of others. For many years the mother of the hierarch was a parishioner of the St Seraphim Cathedral and a member of the lay initiative group for the revival of the Velikoretskaya Cross Procession, which after decades of prohibition was held again for the first time in 1989.
At the conclusion of the service, the hierarch congratulated the faithful on the Sunday – the “Little Pascha” – and addressed those gathered with words of instruction.
“We know that eternal life is attained by love for God and love for our neighbour, yet the Lord Himself revealed to us another great truth: divine food leads a person into the Kingdom of Heaven – the holy life-giving Mysteries of Christ – the most pure Body and Blood of our Saviour. Participation in the Sacrament of Communion is a source of virtue and an effective means of deliverance from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us: ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you’ (John 6:53). It is impossible, merely observing from outside, to feel those gracious gifts, to receive that consolation and help from the Lord, which sincere prayer, frequent attendance at the temple of God, and participation in the Sacraments bestow upon the believer. Personal spiritual experience cannot be replaced by any effort of reason, strain of will or attention of feeling, for ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him’ (1 Cor. 2:9). ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps. 33:9 LXX / Ps. 34:8 KJV), – with these words of the Psalmist David the Church of Christ calls us to partake of true and genuine spiritual life.”
From the homily of Metropolitan Alexander.
Metropolitan Alexander and Catholic Archbishop Tomasz Peta discussed issues of inter-Christian and interreligious dialogue in Kazakhstan
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Information Statement of the Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Astana and Almaty Diocese
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The Head of the Metropolitan District visited the construction site of the church complex in honor of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Kazakhstan
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