The Head of the Metropolitan District celebrated the Liturgy at the Archangel Michael Cathedral in the city of Kaskelen

26 March 2026 – Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent; the commemoration day of Venerable Mary of Egypt. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Archangel Michael Cathedral in the city of Kaskelen, Almaty region.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Bishop Chrysanth of Shymkent and Turkestan; Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; Dean of the parishes of the Southern capital, rector of St Nicholas Cathedral, Candidate of Theology Archpriest Valery Zakharov; rector of the Kazan Church of the village of Uzun-Agash Archpriest Gennady Kadnikov; rector of the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Uralsk Archimandrite Theodosiy (Kuryanov); Archimandrite Iosif (Eremenko); Hegumen Onisim (Tulnikov); personal secretary of the Head of the Metropolitan District Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek); rector of the Archangel Michael Church Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko; cleric of the church of the Archangel’s Chudov metochion of the Seraphim-Theognost Hermitage Hieromonk Iakinf (Katan); Head of the metropolitan’s secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); rector of the Kazan Cathedral of Alma-Ata Priest Georgy Rublinsky; key holder of the Adrian and Natalia Church Priest Ioann Konoplev; Protodeacon Nikolay Grinkevich; Head of the metropolitan’s protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky.

The service was sung by the mixed choir of the Alma-Ata diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Piven.

Praying at the service were: Secretary of the Metropolitan District, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing, Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov; benefactors and parishioners of the church; representatives of the Cossacks.

The akim of Kaskelen A.O. Mukashev was present in the church.

The sermon after the communion hymn was delivered by Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek).

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District addressed those gathered with a word of instruction, in which he spoke about the essence of the spiritual подвиг of Venerable Mary of Egypt.

By decree of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, in anticipation of the forthcoming feast of Holy Pascha, the rector of the Archangel Michael Church, Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko, was awarded the right to wear a jeweled cross.

On the eve in the evening, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated Matins with the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete.

«The life of Venerable Mary of Egypt is well known to all of us from the excellent and detailed account composed by Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem – seventeen years of her life passed in grievous sins, and for forty-seven years, after her conversion to God, she struggled in the Jordan desert in feats of repentance, unceasing prayer and the strictest abstinence, enduring terrible heat and bitter cold, hunger and the fear of wild beasts. The life of the ancient ascetic reveals to us, who live in the twenty-first century, the power and greatness of God’s love for people, even for the most sinful, wholly immersed in the darkness of passions. There is no error that God could not correct, no sin that the loving Heavenly Father would not wish to forgive. The example of Venerable Mary of Egypt clearly shows all of us the necessary conditions for salvation – sincere heartfelt repentance for committed sinful deeds, firm hope in the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in the maternal intercession of the Mother of God, and, of course, a resolute decision to put an end to a sinful, lax life. The image of Venerable Mary of Egypt, her life preserved for us by the venerable elder Zosimas, is an effective help for every believer seeking the salvation of his immortal soul. Looking upon the life of this ascetic, we gain a clear understanding that God hates only sin, and any person who turns away from evil becomes a beloved child of the Lord, about whom “there is more joy in heaven” than over one who has no need of repentance. Having been reconciled with God, the soul once again acquires its lost dignity, the image of God is restored in man, the likeness to the Creator and Maker returns, and together with this are granted firm faith, spiritual strength, peace with conscience and with one’s neighbor, consolation and spiritual joy. Today, when we all переживаем and pray for our native Kazakhstan, for the deliverance of our country and other countries and peoples from a destructive pestilence, each of us must turn to the power of repentance, which reconciles a person with the Creator. It is necessary once again to look into the hidden places of the soul and to cast out from the mind and heart everything that is contrary to God, that removes us from Christ». From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.