Metropolitan Alexander Celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Representation of the Metropolitan District in Moscow on Sunday

July 19, 2026 – the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, the commemoration of St. Athanasius of Mount Athos.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia, located at the Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow, the Representation of the Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Concelebrating with His Eminence were: Hegumen Agafangel (Gagua), Vice-Rector of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, and Professor; Archpriest Alexander Sokolov; Hieromonk Anthony (Drobyazko), rector of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia; Archpriest Oleg Kalmykov, rector of the Church of St. John of Kronstadt in Lisakovsk; Hieromonk Daniel (Makagon); Deacon Anatoly Ledenev; and Deacon Roman Frolov.

The liturgical hymns were performed by the church choir under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.

Praying at the service were V.A. Levin, Acting Director General of Sofrino, members of the staff of the Representation, benefactors of the Patriarchal Metochion, and parishioners.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a service of glorification to St. Athanasius of Mount Athos was celebrated. Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the clergy and faithful on the Lord’s Day and delivered a sermon. The archpastor then sprinkled those present with holy water.

In recognition of his labors for the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and on the occasion of his 40th birthday, Metropolitan Alexander presented Hieromonk Anthony (Drobyazko) with the Order “Enbek Ushin” (“For Labour”).

“Today, during the Divine Liturgy, we heard the instructive words of the Apostle Paul: ‘We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification’ (Romans 15:1–2).

Supporting the weak—those who are spiritually frail or physically ill, those worn down by life’s hardships or overwhelmed by sinful passions—is, according to the Apostle, a noble imitation of the sacrificial ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ‘pleased not Himself’ (Romans 15:3).

St. John Chrysostom gives a simple example of how to fulfill this commandment: ‘Is someone quick-tempered, easily offended, or burdened with some other weakness? Bear with him.’

A life of faith calls us to overcome selfishness and excessive preoccupation with ourselves and our own problems. As Orthodox Christians, we are truly strengthened through the Holy Mysteries, through prayer, and through instruction in the heavenly wisdom of Holy Scripture. Therefore, we should pay ever greater attention to the needs of those around us, recognize their sorrows, and help them in difficult circumstances.

‘Christ continually radiated love and mercy, and we too must continually sow kindness, goodness, and compassion around us. Christ raised the dead, and we must make every effort to awaken—to raise up—the sleeping, and often spiritually dead, souls of those close to us,’ taught the ever-memorable Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), a revered ascetic of piety in Kazakhstan.

Our high moral duty is to be a source of support for those who are struggling, to extend a brotherly hand to every person—whether believer or unbeliever, righteous or sinful—and to labor for the transformation of the world around us, filling it with truth, mercy, and beauty.”

From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.