On the Feast Day of Hieromartyr Nicodemus of Kostroma, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrates the Liturgy at the House Church of the Metropolitan’s Residence in Alma-Ata

August 21, 2026 – Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of the Lord; commemoration of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God; feast day of Hieromartyr Nicodemus, Archbishop of Kostroma.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Iveron-St. Seraphim House Church of the Metropolitan’s residence in Alma-Ata.

The archpastor was concelebrated by Archpriest Alexander Sokolov, Sacristan of St. Sophia Cathedral of the Iveron-St. Seraphim Convent; Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), Rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the Akzhar microdistrict; Hierodeacon Afanasy (Kozel), cleric of St. Sophia Cathedral; and Deacon Georgy Tkachenko, cleric of the Ascension Cathedral.

The liturgical hymns were performed by the men’s choir of the Alma-Ata Diocese under the direction of Deacon Alexander Piven.

Praying at the divine service were O.N. Ovchinnikov, Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan and Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, together with employees of the Alma-Ata Diocesan Administration; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; and V.M. Kapsamun, President of the Eleos-Meirim Public Foundation.

The Liturgy concluded with the glorification of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God, and Hieromartyr Nicodemus of Kostroma, after which Metropolitan Alexander addressed the participants in the divine service with a brief word of instruction.