Metropolitan Alexander Celebrates All-Night Vigil with the Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross at the Dormition Cathedral in Astana

September 26, 2026. On the eve of the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the All-Night Vigil at the Dormition Cathedral in Astana.

Serving with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese; Bishop Vianor of Uralsk and Atyrau; Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), dean of the Astana church district; Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Alma-Ata; Hieromonk Silouan (Sinegubov), cleric of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Astana; Priest Grigory Kulikov, cleric of the cathedral; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Priest Georgy Rublinsky, rector of the Kazan Cathedral in Alma-Ata; and clergy of the Astana and Alma-Ata Dioceses.

Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich led the diaconate.

The hymns were sung by the choir of the Dormition Cathedral under the direction of O. Varentsova.

During the All-Night Vigil, the cathedral housed a great Orthodox shrine – the reliquary containing the dexter of St. Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Trimythous, which had been brought to the main cathedral of Kazakhstan that morning before the Divine Liturgy. Numerous residents of Astana and pilgrims from cities and villages throughout the region came to venerate St. Spyridon and seek spiritual consolation and strength.

In accordance with the liturgical Typikon, a litia with the blessing of bread, wine, wheat and oil was celebrated during Great Vespers.

A distinctive feature of the Vigil for the Feast of the Exaltation is the special veneration of the Life-Giving Cross of Christ. Before the service, the Cross is adorned with fresh flowers and placed on the Holy Table. According to the Church’s liturgical order, the Polyeleos, the singing of the magnification and the reading of the Gospel on this feast take place in the holy altar.

At the conclusion of the Great Doxology, the Cross of the Lord was carried in procession around the interior of the cathedral to the singing of the Trisagion. Metropolitan Alexander and the concelebrating bishops then performed the Rite of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross.

This majestic rite, rich in spiritual meaning, is celebrated only once a year – on the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross – by bishops in cathedral churches.

During the rite, the bishops raised the Cross five times toward the four points of the compass, blessing the country, the city and its people: first toward the east, then west, south and north, and finally toward the east once again. At each exaltation, the deacon proclaimed a special petition and the choir repeatedly responded, “Lord, have mercy!” Following the ancient Jerusalem tradition, the priests washed the Cross with rose water as it was raised.

The Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross has its origins in the historic raising of the Precious Wood of the Cross in Jerusalem. Before a vast gathering of people, Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem raised the Cross discovered by Empress Helena so that everyone could see it. The people venerated the Life-Giving Wood and prayed, “Lord, have mercy!”

As the choir sang the stichera for the veneration of the Cross, the faithful came forward to venerate the Life-Giving Wood. They were then anointed with blessed oil, and each worshipper received a portion of the bread blessed at the litia.

In his address at the conclusion of the All-Night Vigil, Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the faithful on the arrival in Kazakhstan’s capital of the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimythous and called upon everyone to reflect as often as possible on the significance of venerating the Cross of the Lord for an Orthodox Christian – “the Altar of God’s love.”