On August 2, 2024, the memory of the holy prophet Elijah is celebrated.
From the day of his fiery ascension to Heaven, the veneration of the prophet Elijah by the faithful has never ceased. The Russian Orthodox Church especially honors the "heavenly" prophet. The first church built in Kyiv under Prince Igor was consecrated in the name of the prophet Elijah. After receiving the Sacrament of Baptism, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga built the Elijah Church in her homeland, in the village of Vybuty.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Peter and Paul Church in the southern capital.
Concelebrating with the head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: the Dean of Almaty churches, Rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Almaty Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow," Archpriest Eugene Vorobyev; Rector of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Vladimir Shklyar; Rector of the Epiphany Church, Archpriest Valery Shavrin; Secretary of the Kostanay Diocese, Hieromonk Gennady (Burduzha); Sacristan of the Peter and Paul Church, Archpriest Kirill Shklyar; Deputy Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral, Priest Andrey Shklyar; Head of the Personal Secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest George Sidorov; Sacristan of the Kazan Cathedral in Almaty, Priest George Rublinsky; Protodeacon Nikolay Grinkevich; Head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Hierodeacon Athanasius (Kozel); Deacon Ioann Churkin.
The choir of the Peter and Paul Church, directed by I.N. Korovina, sang during the service.
The hierarch offered prayers for the increase of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.
During the Liturgy, memorial prayers were offered for Metropolitan Chrysanthemum of Vyatka (Chepil) and the ever-memorable Kazakhstani hierarchs, including the confessor of the faith Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) and the apostle of the Great Steppe Archbishop Sophonius (Sokolsky), and for all who labored for the establishment of Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan. Additionally, prayers were said for the late spiritual mentors of Metropolitan Alexander: Archbishop Meliton of Tikhvin (Solovyov), the Vyatka pastors – Rector of the Trinity Church in the village of Volkovo, Archpriest Ioann Evdokimov, and Rector of the Trinity Church in the village of Bystritsa, Archpriest Konstantin Gulin.
The homily after the Communion hymn was delivered by Priest George Sidorov.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, a glorification was held before the icon of the Prophet Elijah. According to the ancient tradition associated with Elijah’s Day, Metropolitan Alexander performed the rite of blessing the new harvest fruits – reading the prayer "O Master, Lord our God, who commanded each to bring the first fruits of their own produce to Thee…" and sprinkled the vegetables and fruits with holy water.
While singing the troparion and magnification to the Prophet Elijah, the Metropolitan sprinkled the gathered faithful with holy water.
The "Many Years" was proclaimed to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, to the Head and Right Reverend Hierarchs of the Kazakhstani Metropolis, to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to the authorities, the military, and to all the people of Kazakhstan.
On August 2, it was the 41st anniversary of the priestly ordination of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan. In 1983, on the feast of the Prophet Elijah, in the Trinity Church of the village of Volkovo in the Kirov region, the late Archbishop Chrysanthe (Chepil; †2011, later Metropolitan of Vyatka and Slobodskoy) ordained his secretary, Deacon Alexander Mogilev, to the priesthood.
Protopriest Valery Zakharov congratulated the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan on the memorable date of his priestly ordination.
In response, Metropolitan Alexander warmly thanked the clergy and all participants of the Liturgy for their well-wishes and requested the fervent prayers of those present in the church for the bestowal of strengthening divine grace in his archpastoral ministry.
"The prophetic feat of Saint Elijah is entirely imbued with an extraordinary fiery zeal for God – this is the main characteristic of his ministry. In the Holy Scriptures, we hear the words of the Psalmist David: 'The zeal for Your house has consumed me' (Ps. 68:10). Elijah literally burned with this fire of faith, being zealous for the glory of God. When God addressed him with the question: 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' he answered, 'I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword' (1 Kings 19:9-10).
Elijah could not indifferently look upon Israel praying to the lifeless idol Baal instead of the true God. He bitterly lamented that the ignorant people had no one to preach the word of the Lord, for the prophets of the Living God had been killed, and in their place, the false prophets of Baal taught pagan superstitions. Elijah was mortally tormented in his soul over the desecrated glory of the Creator, over the temple that was in desolation. He did not wish to live in a world where the name of the Lord was no longer exalted, where the Creator's will was not fulfilled on earth. Through his zeal for the glory of God, the prophet teaches us always to remember our calling – to be true followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be strict adherents of His holy will.
We must train ourselves to the mandatory and unwavering observance of God's commandments. It is essential to cultivate within ourselves a mindset where a life for us and our loved ones, away from God, is simply inconceivable." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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