Altar Gospel Belonging to Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) Donated to His Museum

June 26, 2026. Alma-Ata. The collections of the house museum dedicated to the ever-memorable Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan, opened earlier this year in Alma-Ata with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, continue to grow with new exhibits.

An altar Gospel in Church Slavonic bearing an inscription by Metropolitan Joseph has been donated to the museum dedicated to the confessor of the faith and ascetic of piety, who is deeply venerated by the faithful. The volume had been preserved by Archpriest Georgiy Gutorov, a cleric of the Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist in Brateyevo, Moscow.

The altar Gospel is the liturgical book containing the text of the Four Gospels—those according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—together with the appointed Gospel readings for the Church’s services. The text is divided into liturgical sections (pericopes). Except when it is being read during the divine services, the altar Gospel is kept on the Holy Table in the sanctuary.

Together with the donation, Archpriest Georgiy sent an explanatory note, which reads in part:

“This Gospel was given to me in the mid-1990s (1995 or 1996) by my father-in-law, Mitred Archpriest Andrey Burdin, who was the senior-most cleric of the Astana and Alma-Ata Diocese of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District. For nearly sixty years Father Andrey served at the altar of God in the priesthood, including almost forty years as a cleric of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Alma-Ata. Since then, this sacred relic has been carefully preserved in our home. When the house museum of Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan was opened, I felt it would be inappropriate to keep this Gospel hidden away in my home, and with great joy and from the bottom of my heart I donated it to the museum. It is a great honor for me to make this gift.”

The liturgical Gospel was printed in 1904 at the Press of the Holy Dormition Kyiv Caves Lavra. The volume is produced on high-quality heavy paper; its headings, rubrics, and illuminated initials are printed in cinnabar red; the pages are decorated with ornamental headpieces; and the binding is covered in dark burgundy velvet with a silver-plated metal cover.

Of particular historical interest is an inscription handwritten by Metropolitan Joseph on the front flyleaf in 1918. The note is autobiographical and reads:

“On the day of my monastic tonsure, from the honorable Archdeacon Hieronymus. Taganrog, February 6, 1918. Archbishop Joseph.”