Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan sanctified the beginning of 2026 with a night-time Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Alma-Ata

1 January 2026 – the commemoration of the holy martyr Boniface of Tarsus and Venerable Elijah of Murom; the civil New Year.

On the night of 31 December 2025 to 1 January 2026, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral of the city of Alma-Ata.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District were the vicars of the Astana Diocese – Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Managing Director of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Bishop Klaudian of Taldykorgan, and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; the dean of the parishes of the Southern Capital and rector of St Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; the rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov; the key-bearer of the Ascension Cathedral and head of the Metropolitan District Department for Relations with Society, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; the head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District and rector of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; the key-bearer of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Gaychenya; the rector of the Epiphany Church, Archpriest Valery Shavrin; the dean of the Ili Church District, Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov; the rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the Akzhar microdistrict, Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov); the head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; the city clergy; the diaconal order was headed by Protodacon Nikolai Grinkevich.

In the main cathedral of the Southern Capital, an icon with a particle of the relics of the martyr Boniface was present for prayerful veneration and spiritual consolation of the faithful.

The hymns were sung by the male choir of the Alma-Ata Diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Piveń.

The augmented litany included special petitions for the beginning of the New Year, for the increase of love and the uprooting of hatred and all malice, and for the unity of Holy Orthodoxy.

After the Communion verse, Priest Georgy Sidorov read aloud the address of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on the eve of the New Year.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, before the icon with the relics of the martyr Boniface, Metropolitan Alexander performed a festal glorification and read the prayer for the New Year: “O Master Lord our God, Source of life and immortality, Creator of all visible and invisible creation, Who has set times and seasons in Thine own authority.”

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated the Right Reverend hierarchs, the clergy, and the faithful on entering the period of the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ and on the coming of the New Year, after which he delivered a word of exhortation.

“An ancient prophet cried out to the Lord: ‘So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Ps. 89:12). ‘We shall imperceptibly fly through the span of life on the wings of time, and imperceptibly arrive at the very gates of eternity,’ it is said in one of the New Year letters of St Ignatius (Brianchaninov). A good way to acquire true wisdom is to learn to live each day with the perspective of eternity. Surely, in our New Year prayers there must sound words of sincere gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the year that has passed, for all the time we have lived, for all that we know and do not know, for the manifest and hidden benefactions accomplished for us. Let us reflect and see – we always have reason to thank and glorify the Lord. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20); He helps us in our lives; He is with us in our sorrows and illnesses, in labors and trials; He comforts us by His word and encourages us by the compassion of our friends and loved ones. And not only in this is His love and mercy revealed, but also in the fact that we have the opportunity to visit the temples of God, which the righteous John of Kronstadt called Heaven on earth. Here we are freed from sins in the Sacrament of Repentance, nourished by the Bread of eternal life in the Sacrament of Communion, we hear the Gospel words, commune spiritually with the Most Holy Theotokos, the angelic powers, and the choirs of saints, and receive consolation and renewal. As we enter the New year of God’s goodness, let us ask the Creator and Giver of all blessings for an increase of love and the uprooting of hatred and all malice; let us pray for the peace of the whole world, for the unity and strengthening of the Orthodox Church, and for the prosperity of our earthly Fatherland – blessed Kazakhstan.”

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.