Second Sunday of Great Lent. The Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy in the Dormition Cathedral of Astana

8 March 2026 – the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent, the “Sunday of the Light-Creating Fasts,” the commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica; celebration in honor of the uncovering of the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great in the Dormition Cathedral of Astana.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolitan District were: dean of the Astana church district Archimandrite Sergiy (Karamyshev), acting sacristan of the Dormition Cathedral Archpriest Evgeniy Korolkov, head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Priest Sergiy Pinigyin, assistant to the dean Priest Sergiy Dianov, Priest Viktor Drozhnikov; head of the Metropolitan’s protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Iliya Davydov, Deacon Mikhail Chumakov, Deacon Yaroslav Vokhmentsev.

Before the beginning of the service, for the prayerful veneration of the faithful, great shrines were brought out from the altar of the main church of Kazakhstan – reliquaries containing the relics of Saint Luke of Crimea and Blessed Matrona of Moscow.

The choir of the Dormition Cathedral sang under the direction of O. Varentsova.

Praying at the Liturgy were: staff members of the Astana diocesan administration, activists of the Astana Orthodox youth movement, and parishioners of the city’s churches.

After the Cherubic Hymn Metropolitan Alexander performed the priestly ordination of the cleric of the Dormition Cathedral, Deacon Nikolai Goryachev.

The sermon before Communion was delivered by Archimandrite Sergiy (Karamyshev).

After the dismissal of the Liturgy, a glorification of Blessed Matrona of Moscow and the sacred confessor Luke of Crimea took place.

At the conclusion of the service, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated the faithful on the Sunday – the “Little Pascha,” after which he addressed those present with a sermon in which he spoke about the life and archpastoral labors of Saint Gregory Palamas.

“On the second Sunday of Great Lent, which in the liturgical Typikon is called the ‘Sunday of the Light-Creating Fasts,’ the Church of Christ, in addition to celebrating the Sunday day, commemorates one of the great hierarchs and preachers of Orthodoxy – Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of the city of Thessalonica. Great Lent is a divine call to the renewal of man, to liberation from sin, to the inner enlightenment of the mind and heart, a call to walk toward the radiant joy of Holy Pascha. Saint Gregory Palamas taught that the mysterious divine light which shone upon the apostles on Mount Tabor, which radiated from the life-giving Tomb of the Savior at His Resurrection from the dead, can truly be seen and experienced by every believer. Moreover, participation in this light is an indispensable condition of our salvation. The vision of this light is nothing other than a living and active communion with Christ, union with Him – ‘the true Light which enlightens every man coming into the world’ (Jn. 1:9). We are able to become partakers of the divine life and the divine nature through illumination by grace, the means for acquiring which are the purification of the heart, guarding the mind from vain and evil thoughts, fervent prayer, reading the Word of God, a pious and virtuous life according to the commandments, sincere service to God and neighbor, and participation in the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.