Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral of the Southern Capital

1 March 2026 – the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

The establishment of the feast is connected with the events of the Council of Constantinople in 843, convened by Empress Theodora for the restoration of the veneration of icons in the Byzantine Empire, and it signifies the triumph of the Church over all false teachings and schisms that have ever existed.

The Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, celebrated the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great at the Ascension Cathedral of Almaty.

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Dean of the parishes of Almaty, Rector of St Nicholas Cathedral, Candidate of Theology, Mitred Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Spiritual Father of the Almaty Diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov); Archimandrite Joseph (Yeremenko); Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and Head of the Information Department of the Metropolitan District, Candidate of Theology, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek); Hieromonk Onisim (Tulnikov); Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Rector of the Kazan Cathedral of Almaty, Priest Georgy Rublinsky; Hieromonk Paisiy (Tishakov); Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin; Deacon Alexander Piven; Deacon John Zhuchkov; Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.

The hymns were sung by the Choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov and the Choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of E. Boguslavets.

Praying at the Liturgy were: staff of the Almaty diocesan administration, students of the Almaty Theological Seminary, members of the Cossack community, pupils of the Sunday school and parishioners of the cathedral.

The homily after the Communion verse was delivered by Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov.

After the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Metropolitan presided over the “Order of the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy” – a special service of supplication for the triumph of the Orthodox faith and for the guidance onto the true path of all who have fallen away from the Church of Christ.

In accordance with the rite, at the festal moleben an anathema was proclaimed against those “who do not accept the grace of redemption preached by the Gospel as the only means of our justification before God; who reject the Councils of the holy Fathers and their traditions, in agreement with Divine Revelation and piously preserved by the Orthodox-Catholic Church; who deny the immortality of the soul, the end of the age, the future judgment and eternal recompense in heaven for virtues and condemnation for sins.”

“Memory Eternal” was proclaimed to the preachers and defenders of the Orthodox faith; to the hierarchs, pastors and laypeople who labored for Orthodoxy on the land of Kazakhstan.

Festal acclamations of Many Years were proclaimed to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’; to the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches; to the Head and episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; to the Most Reverend archpastors, pastors and all faithful children of the Church of Christ; to the President, the authorities, the armed forces and the people of Kazakhstan.

The rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy concluded with the singing of the hymn “We Praise Thee, O God,” authored by St Ambrose of Milan.

After the moleben, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated the clergy and parishioners on the feast and addressed those present with words of instruction.

Video coverage of the service was carried out by the television studio of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan “Semirechie” (director – Honored Cultural Worker Viktoria Posadneva); photographic coverage by A. Shcheglov, staff member of the Information Department.

A live broadcast of the Liturgy was conducted on the YouTube channel “Proobraz” with the support of the public foundation “Eleos-Meirim” (head – V.M. Kapsamun).

“The first Sunday of Great Lent the Church calls the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. On this feast, all of us who confess the holy Orthodox faith pay tribute in memory and respect to all those who have upheld it throughout two thousand years of history. By the exploits of hierarchs, the prayers of the venerable, the labors of those Equal-to-the-Apostles, the blood of martyrs and the witness of confessors, the saving faith of Christ is preserved through the ages. And we, having received this treasure from our pious forebears, now have the opportunity to participate in the saving Mysteries of the Church, in which divine grace is given to us, strengthening us on the path of salvation. As we performed today the Rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, we gratefully remembered all who served the spread of Christ’s faith in the world and on our land. We offered fervent prayers that the Lord may strengthen all of us in firm confession of Orthodoxy, and that those deprived of the joy of being within the fold of the Holy Church may come to the knowledge of the Truth, realize the necessity of hope in God, and that with one mouth and one heart we may glorify our Lord and Savior.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.