Newly Recovered Poshekhonsky Cross Welcomed at St. Vladimir Church in Alma-Ata

September 27, 2026. On the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Metropolitan District, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Vladimir Church in Alma-Ata.

Serving with His Grace were Hieromonk Sergius (Vnukovsky), sacristan of St. Vladimir Church; Priest Roman Kravchenko and Deacon Macarius Belitsky, clergy of the parish.

The liturgical hymns were sung by the choir of St. Vladimir Church.

Praying at the service were S.V. Kiselev, chief benefactor of the parish; benefactors and parishioners of the church; and Orthodox residents of Alma-Ata.

Following the Liturgy, before a large gathering of the faithful, the parish welcomed its newly recovered sacred relic – the Poshekhonsky Cross, containing particles of the relics of venerated saints of God.

As the troparion and magnification for the Exaltation of the Cross were sung, Bishop Gennady and the clergy carried the sacred relic into the church.

At the conclusion of the service, the hierarch addressed the faithful with a sermon.

At the request of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the cross was donated to St. Vladimir Church by S.V. Kiselev, a benefactor of the parish, for the faithful of the Alma-Ata Diocese to venerate and seek spiritual consolation.

The cross contains particles of the relics of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called; St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia; Great Martyr Barbara of Heliopolis; St. Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus’; Right-Believing Prince Roman of Uglich; and St. Nilus of Stolobensk.

The cross was made in Yaroslavl in 1791 by the silversmith A.F. Tukalov. An inscription inside the cross reads: “This Life-Giving Cross with relics was donated to the Church of St. Paraskeva in Poshekhonye, Beloselskaya Volost, by parishioner and landowner Matrona Muratova, out of devotion to the Holy Church, for eternal remembrance.” After the Revolution of 1917, the relic was taken abroad by emigrants, where it remained until this year.

The sacred cross will remain at St. Vladimir Church beside the parish’s principal shrine – the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.

The festal service was filmed by the Semirechye television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, directed by Honored Worker of Culture V.L. Posadneva, for the Semirechye YouTube channel.