On the Sunday of Venerable Mary of Egypt, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at the Constantine and Helen Cathedral of the city of Kostanay

29 March 2026 – the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, the commemoration day of Venerable Mary of Egypt.

In the Synaxarion (the statutory instruction) for this Sunday it is said: «The memory of this venerable saint is celebrated on April 1, but it is also established today, since the end of the Holy Forty Days is already approaching, in order to move the careless and sinners to repentance, for whom the celebrated saint should serve as an example».

On the eve, at Matins, after the reading of the воскресное Gospel passage, according to the liturgical Typikon, the Lenten troparia were performed for the final time during the Holy Forty Days of the current year: «Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life».

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great in the main church of the Kostanay diocese – the Constantine and Helen Cathedral of the city of Kostanay.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Secretary of the Kostanay diocese Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha); spiritual father of the Kostanay diocese Archpriest Andrey Korchazhnikov; key-keeper of the Constantine and Helen Cathedral Archpriest Vasily Korolev, dean of the Sarykol church district Archpriest Vitaly Kleba; personal secretary of the Head of the Metropolitan District Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek); cleric of the main church of the diocese Hegumen Innokenty (Pomogalov); key-keeper of St Nicholas Church of the city of Kostanay Archpriest Vitaly Gutsan; Head of the metropolitan’s secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); Head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov; rector of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the settlement of Zatobolsk Priest Andrey Krutin; rector of the St Peter and Paul Church of the village of Uzunkol Priest Georgy Kusliev; Priest Alexey Kovalev, Priest Sergiy Neverov, Priest Georgy Chernykh; Priest Evgeny Bikmansurov; Hieromonk Methodius (Chulkov); Head of the metropolitan’s protocol service Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Eleazar Aitbakin; Deacon Alexey Fedorchenko; Hierodeacon Seraphim (Kanderov); Deacon Tarasiy Takenov.

For prayerful veneration and spiritual support of the faithful, a reliquary containing the relics of Venerable Alexy, the Man of God, was brought to the St John the Theologian Church.

Praying at the service were: nuns of the Iver-Petropavlovsk women’s monastery headed by Abbess Nika (Otroshchenko), staff of the Kostanay diocesan administration, parishioners of the main church of Kostanay.

The choir of the Constantine and Helen Cathedral of the city of Kostanay sang under the direction of T. Zhebrak.

The sermon after the Communion verse was delivered by Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek).

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the clergy and parishioners of the cathedral on the Sunday marked by the commemoration of Venerable Mary of Egypt and addressed those gathered with a homily.

After the service, Metropolitan Alexander sprinkled the faithful with holy water.

«The fifth Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to Venerable Mary of Egypt. The life of this saint of the 5th century is well known to all of us from the detailed account composed by Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem – seventeen years of her life were spent in grievous sins, and for forty-seven years, after her conversion to God, she labored in the Jordanian desert in feats of repentance, unceasing prayer and the strictest abstinence, enduring terrible heat and severe cold, hunger and the fear of wild beasts. The life of the ancient ascetic reveals to us, who live in the 21st century, the power and greatness of God’s love for people, even for the most sinful, those wholly immersed in the darkness of passions. There is no mistake that God cannot correct, no sin that the loving Heavenly Father would not wish to forgive. The example of Venerable Mary of Egypt clearly shows us all the necessary conditions for salvation – sincere heartfelt repentance for committed sins, 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, negligent life. The image of Venerable Mary of Egypt, her life preserved for us by the venerable elder Zosima, is an effective help for every believer seeking the salvation of his immortal soul. Looking at the life of this ascetic, we gain a clear understanding that only sin is hateful to God, and any person who turns away from evil becomes a beloved child of the Lord, about whom “there is more joy in Heaven” than about one who has no need of repentance. Having been reconciled with God, the soul regains its lost dignity, the image of God is restored in man, likeness to the Creator is returned, and together with this are granted firm faith, spiritual strength, peace with conscience and with neighbors, consolation and spiritual joy». From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.