Head of the Metropolitan District Offers Memorial Litany for the Ever-Memorable Abbess Rafaela (Vasylenko)

On February 4, 2026, two years passed since the repose in the Lord of Abbess Rafaela (Vasylenko), former Superior of the Convent in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Seeking of the Lost” in the city of Astana.

At the Iveron–Seraphim house church of the residence of the Head of the Metropolitan District in Almaty, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan served a litany for the ever-memorable Abbess.

Praying during the service were: the Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing, O.N. Ovchinnikov; the head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky); the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; and staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration.

Before the beginning of the service, the Head of the Metropolitan District addressed those present with an archpastoral word, in which he gratefully recalled the labors of the reposed:

“Abbess Rafaela lived a long life filled with labors for the benefit of our native Orthodoxy. The Lord granted her to receive salvific spiritual lessons from pastors and monastics who, in times of tribulation, had passed through the crucible of trials without betraying the truth of the Gospel. The ever-memorable Superior gave of her strength, health, and talents with gratitude to God and heartfelt joy for the building up of monastic life in the Tselinograd region. Much was done by Abbess Rafaela for the preservation of monastic traditions in Kazakhstan, the multiplication of spiritual heritage, and the moral upbringing of the younger generation. Whatever obedience the Lord called Matushka to, she always fulfilled it without sloth, with her characteristic diligence, heartfelt simplicity, and sincerity,” – noted the Vladyka.

At the end of the panikhida, the clergy and faithful chanted “Memory Eternal” to the ever-memorable Matushka Abbess.