May 2, 2026 – the 4th Sunday after Pascha, of the Paralytic. In the liturgical texts of this Sunday, the Church glorifies the healing by the Lord of the paralytic who had suffered from a severe illness for 38 years. In this miracle, the Church sees the renewal of the life of all humanity through the Resurrection of Christ.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan presided over the Paschal Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.
Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolitan District were: Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Administrator of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan; Bishop Veniamin of Talgar, Vicar of the Astana Diocese; Archpriest Valery Zakharov, Dean of the churches of Almaty, Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Candidate of Theology; Archimandrite Joseph (Eremenko); Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral and Head of the Metropolitan District’s Department for Public Relations; Hegumen Philipp (Moiseev), member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports; Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek), Personal Secretary to the Head of the Metropolitan District; Archpriest Valery Shavrin, Rector of the Epiphany Church; Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, Dean of the Ili Church District; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Metropolitan’s Secretariat; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Priest Georgy Rublinsky, Sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral in Almaty; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service; Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky; Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin; Deacon Alexander Piven; Deacon Ioann Zhuchkov; Deacon Georgy Tkachenko.
The hymns were performed by the Metropolitan District Choir (Regent – Honored Artist of Russia O. N. Ovchinnikov, Choirmaster – V. Dudareva) and the Ascension Cathedral Choir (Regent – E. Boguslavets).
The sermon after the Communion verse was delivered by Priest Georgy Sidorov.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, a Paschal glorification took place, after which the Metropolitan proclaimed “Christ is risen!” in various languages, ancient and modern.
His Eminence sprinkled the faithful with holy water and delivered a homily.
“In the Paschal prayers, the words are repeatedly proclaimed that Christ has granted life to ‘those in the tombs.’ Whom does the Church call the dead, whom the Savior has brought to life by His Resurrection? These are the righteous of the Old Testament, beginning with Adam and Eve; this is all humanity, which before the coming of the Lord into the world did not possess knowledge of the truth and freedom (cf. John 8:32); and these are all those whose souls have been raised by the grace of God through faith in Christ, revived through repentance and the following of the Gospel commandments. ‘When the soul passes from sin to virtue,’ teaches Venerable Abba Dorotheos, ‘then it celebrates the Pascha of the Lord. The Pascha of the Lord is the passage from evil to good.’ The Gospel miracle of Christ’s victory over death is a call to every person to begin a new life – to rise together with the Risen Savior through faith in the power of God (cf. Col. 2:12). By His Resurrection, Christ confirmed the apostles in the truth and immutability of His promise: ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die’ (John 11:25–26). The disciples of the Lord carried this good news throughout the whole world, and in all times every Christian on the path of life, in hardships and trials, in sorrows and difficult circumstances, places hope in Christ, Who ‘died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living’ (Rom. 14:9).”
from the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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