On the Feast of Christ’s Resurrection, the Head of the Metropolitan District Celebrated the Festal Great Vespers in the Main Church of Alma-Ata

On the evening of 12 April 2026, on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated Great Paschal Vespers at the Ascension Cathedral in Alma-Ata.

Concelebrating with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Administrator of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, and Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese; Archpriest Valery Zakharov, Dean of the churches of Alma-Ata, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Candidate of Theology; Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, rector of the Church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow; Archimandrite Joseph (Eremenko); heads of departments of the Metropolitan District in holy orders; and clergy of the churches of the Southern Capital.

The hymns were sung by the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District under the direction of Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov, the choir of the Ascension Cathedral under the direction of E. Boguslavets, and the pupils of the Orthodox singing school “Tsevnitsa” under the direction of N. Golovina.

Praying at the service were: Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina), superior of the Iveron-Seraphim Women’s Monastery, together with the sisters of the monastery; staff of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration; and benefactors of the diocese.

A guest of the celebration was N.M. Kikimov, head of the Department for Religious Affairs of Alma-Ata.

According to established tradition, at the beginning of Great Vespers the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was brought to the cathedral of Alma-Ata by a delegation of clergy and laity from the Astana–Alma-Ata Diocese.

The Head of the Metropolitan District warmly thanked the benefactors for organizing the bringing of the Holy Fire from the Holy City of Jerusalem to Kazakhstan.

Ascending the ambon, the Metropolitan was the first to light bundles of candles from the holy flame and blessed the faithful with them. From this fire, candles were lit throughout the cathedral, spiritually uniting the people of Alma-Ata with the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem.

In accordance with the liturgical Typikon, the Great Prokeimenon was sung at Vespers.

Standing in the Royal Doors facing the people, Metropolitan Alexander read the Gospel passage from Saint John recounting the first appearance of the Risen Savior to His disciples, at which the Apostle Thomas was absent.

At the conclusion of Vespers, Bishop Gennady, on behalf of the hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laity of the Metropolitan District, congratulated the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

On behalf of the executive authorities of the city of Alma-Ata, N.M. Kikimov, head of the Department for Religious Affairs of Alma-Ata, greeted the Metropolitan and the faithful on the feast of Holy Easter. Nurlan Medsantovich read aloud a greeting address from Darkhan Amangeldievich Satybaldy.

The faithful were also congratulated with Paschal hymns performed by the pupils of the cathedral Sunday school.