17 April 2026 – Bright Friday; the feast of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Life-Giving Spring” and the commemoration of Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy according to the Paschal rite in the oldest church of the city of Astana – the Cathedral of Sts. Constantine and Helena.
According to ancient liturgical tradition, before the beginning of the Liturgy a service for the blessing of water was celebrated.
Concelebrating with the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District were: dean of the Astana church district Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev); rector of the Alma-Ata Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov; cleric of St. Alexander Nevsky Church Archpriest Mikhail Zinchenko; spiritual father of the Astana women’s monastery of the Icon of the Mother of God “Recovery of the Lost” Hieromonk Modest (Drozdov); personal secretary of the Head of the Metropolitan District Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek); key-keeper of the Sts. Constantine and Helena Cathedral Archpriest Sergius Kaliyev; cleric of St. Seraphim of Sarov Church in Astana Hieromonk Siluan (Sinegubov); head of the metropolitan’s secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky); Priest Andrei Ivashinin; the diaconal rank led by Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich.
By the beginning of the service, great holy relics were brought into the church for veneration and spiritual strengthening of the faithful – particles of the relics of the Holy Apostle Peter and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene.
Praying at the Liturgy were: the abbess of the monastery of the Icon of the Mother of God “Recovery of the Lost” in Astana, Abbess Sevastiana (Plotnikova), with the sisters of the monastery; staff of the diocesan administration; and parishioners.
The hymns were performed by the choir of the Sts. Constantine and Helena Church under the direction of N. Mazurina.
After the communion verse, Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek) read out the Paschal message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.
The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
The Head of the Metropolitan District addressed the clergy and parishioners with a sermon, congratulating those present on the double celebration – the Pascha of the Lord and the feast of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring.”
The hierarch sprinkled the faithful with holy water.
“By the boundless love of God for His creation, the Lord Jesus Christ ‘for us men and for our salvation’ became man, suffered and died on the Cross – so that, having taken upon Himself the sins of the world, He might rise again ‘for our justification’ (Rom. 4:25). With the Nativity of the Savior began our reconciliation with God; by the life of Christ it continued; by His death and Resurrection it was fulfilled. According to the words of St. Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, ‘in the person of the Risen Savior all the lost dignity of the children of God has been restored to us, and everything necessary for inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven has been granted.’ The God-Man who rose from the dead became the New Adam, the Head of the renewed human race being saved by Him. The Resurrection of Christ opened for us the way to Heaven, and the Church now sings in the Paschal canon: ‘From death to life and from earth to Heaven has Christ God led us.’ Pascha assures us of forgiveness, which has shone forth to humanity from the Life-Giving Tomb, and affirms the hope of the future universal resurrection. According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, ‘the present day is even more joyful than the future: then those whose sins will be exposed will necessarily weep, but now there is no one sorrowful among us. Now both the righteous rejoice, and he who has not purified his conscience has hope of correcting himself by repentance. This day takes away all sorrow, and there is no person who does not find consolation in the triumph of the feast.’ Our hearts rejoice, our lips glorify the Risen Savior – yet no earthly words of praise are sufficient to fully thank the Lord for His ineffable mercy toward us.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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