Metropolitan Alexander held a meeting with the newly appointed abbesses of the monasteries of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

On August 3, 2024, in Almaty, a meeting took place in the fireplace hall of the spiritual and cultural center of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) between Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan and the newly appointed abbesses of the monasteries—Abbess Olympiada (Salopeko) and Nun Sebastiana (Plotnikova).

The meeting was attended by: O.N. Ovchinnikov, Secretary of the Metropolitan District of Kazakhstan, Honored Artist of Russia, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing; Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov, Acting Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District; Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan; and Protodeacon Roman Golovin, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service.

The Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated the mothers on their appointment to their responsible and high ecclesiastical obedience. His Eminence noted that the new abbesses are tasked with increasing the number of residents in the monasteries and preserving the ancient traditions of piety bequeathed by the founders of the monasteries—Venerable Sebastian, Elder of Karaganda, and the ever-memorable Archimandrite Cyril (Borodin).

Metropolitan Alexander particularly emphasized the necessity of caring for the practice of prayer, which, according to Saint John Climacus, is the mother of all virtues. "For monastics, it is very important to be present at the Liturgy every day, to pray both in the church and in their cells. Every act of obedience should be accompanied and sanctified by prayer, living in the mind and heart. It is precisely the love of monastics for the divine service that determines the proper order of the monastery," said the archpastor. "Continuous prayer and standing before God in worship is not an easy task. How can one not lose the fire of zeal and love for prayer? Are there means for this? The Holy Fathers and teachers say that there are. The more monastics learn obedience, which in its inner essence is the cutting off of one's will and the fulfillment of God's will, performed with joy, in a peaceful spirit, for the sake of love for Christ, the more continuous and fervent prayer becomes," the hierarch emphasized in his speech.

The mothers thanked the Head of the Metropolitan District for his words of guidance and requested archpastoral prayers for the bestowal of strengthening divine grace in their abbess duties.

As a blessing for their labors, Metropolitan Alexander presented the newly appointed abbesses with icons of the Prophet Elijah, wishing them strength, diligence in prayer, and success in their new obediences.