On the Day of the Commemoration of the Apostle Philip, the Head of the Metropolis Celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Annunciation Church of the Southern Capital

27 November 2025 – the day of the commemoration of the Apostle Philip; the forefeast before the beginning of the Nativity Fast.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church dedicated to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Alatau district of the city of Almaty, where the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan is located.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolis were: the Vicar of the Astana Diocese, Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Bishop Khrisanf of Chimkent and Turkestan; the dean of the churches of Almaty, rector of St Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; the rector of the Almaty church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyev, the rector of the St Paraskeva Church Archpriest Ioann Lopatin, Archimandrite Gavriil (Tutberidze), the rector of the Church of St John the Forerunner in the settlement of Guldala Archpriest Georgy Kharlov, the rector of St Alexei Church in the settlement of Baiterek Archpriest Anatoly Boyko, the head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolis Priest Georgy Sidorov, the rector of the St Alexander Nevsky Church in the village of Saimasai (Aleksandrovka) Priest Roman Klyuev, the sacristan of the Adriano–Natalievsky Church Priest Ioann Konoplev; Protodeacon Nikolay Grinkevich, the head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Daniil Pasyuk.

Praying at the service were: the Secretary of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, conductor of the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolis, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing O. N. Ovchinnikov; Orthodox residents of the Alatau district and faithful from the surrounding localities.

The choir of the Annunciation Church, conducted by K. Bocharova, sang the liturgical hymns.

After the communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov read the address of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan before the beginning of the Nativity Fast.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Head of the Metropolis addressed those gathered with a sermon on the theme of the approaching Nativity Fast.

A polychronion was proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’; to the Head and episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolis; to the President, the authorities, the armed forces, and all the people of Kazakhstan.

After the service, the Metropolitan congratulated the head of the Taldykorgan Vicariate on the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination and on his birthday. In recognition of his zealous archpastoral labors for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and in connection with the significant date of his pastoral ministry, Bishop Klavdian was awarded the Order of the Holy Hieromartyr Pimen, Bishop of Verniy and Semirechye.

As a gift to the Annunciation Church, the Head of the Metropolis presented an icon of St Nicholas the Wonderworker containing a particle of his holy relics. Bishop Klavdian gratefully received the sacred object from the hands of Metropolitan Alexander.

His Eminence sprinkled the faithful with holy water.

“Today the Nativity Fast begins – forty days appointed by the Holy Church for the preparation of each of us for the celebration of the greatest event in the entire history of humanity – the manifestation of God in the flesh (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16), the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Nativity Fast has a special character – in it the labors of abstinence and prayer are illumined by the joy of the approaching radiant feast and by a deep sense of gratitude to the Savior, ‘Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven.’ What can we offer the Lord? Venerable Symeon the New Theologian answers this question most briefly and succinctly: ‘God needs nothing from us except our salvation.’ Our gift to Christ, born in the cave, will be our sincere striving toward God, our efforts and labors on the path to the Heavenly Kingdom, the desire for union with our Savior in prayer and in the sacraments of the Church.

The Fast is that time when, in the words of the Apostle, ‘It is high time to awake out of sleep’ (Rom. 13:11). The Church calls us to awaken from sinful oblivion, to break free from the whirl of vanity and the weariness of spirit (cf. Eccles. 1:14), and to remember the true meaning of life, the purpose of human existence on earth, to remember that ‘Our citizenship is in Heaven’ (Phil. 3:20). The Fast is the time when, overcoming egoism and self-reliance, we again place the Lord at the center of our life, establishing the one true coordinate system of our being. The Fast is the time of our return to the Heavenly Father through repentance and participation in the sacraments of the Church – Confession and Holy Communion. The labor of the Fast includes intensified prayer and diligence in attending church. Another of its components is attentive reading and study of the word of God – Holy Scripture. May the Lord help each of us avoid formalism or lukewarmness, negligence or hypocrisy in the observance of the Fast, and may He grant us to fill these days with profound spiritual content, to amend our life so ‘that we should no longer be slaves of sin’ (Rom. 6:6).”

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.