On August 4, 2024—the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, the day of the commemoration of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene and Hieromartyr Presbyter Alexei Ilyinsky, who suffered for Christ in Karlag in 1931.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.
Concelebrating with the Head of the Metropolitan District were: Archbishop Amphilochius of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk; Bishop Chrysant of Chimkent and Turkestan; Archimandrite Theodosius (Kuryanov), sacristan of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in Uralsk; Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov, head of the Information Department of the Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha), secretary of the Kostanay Diocese; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan; Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service; Deacon Ilya Kwan, secretary of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Diocese; and Deacon Alexander Piven.
Praying during the service were: 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; Abbess Varvara (Morozova) of the Intercession Monastery in Uralsk; staff of the Almaty Diocesan Administration; students of the Sunday School; and parishioners of the cathedral.
The liturgical hymns were performed by the choir of the main church of the Southern capital under the direction of N. Zubrević.
The post-communion sermon was delivered by Protopriest Evgeny Ivanov.
At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander performed a memorial service for Protopriest Andrey Kazarin, who passed away in 2013. Father Andrey was an assistant to the Head of the Metropolitan District during his tenure as Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, fulfilling various diocesan obediences.
At the conclusion of the service, the Head of the Metropolitan District congratulated those gathered on the commemoration day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene and delivered a sermon.
"It is deeply regrettable that some Orthodox Christians have cooled in their zeal for attending the house of God, especially on the eve of Sundays and great feasts. Many reasons are given in justification—work, household chores, and physical fatigue. But if we are impartial with ourselves and count how much time most of us dedicate to God and our immortal soul in a week, it will be a very small number of hours and minutes. Indeed, the pace of life today is very different from that of the past or the century before, the bustle has intensified, the number of cares has increased, and time seems to have shortened. However, Saint John Chrysostom offers a different perspective on this problem and reveals its true causes: 'Many things in public and private affairs do not go as we wish because we do not prioritize spiritual matters but worldly ones.' The Lord Himself commanded us, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,' and He promised that all things related to the earthly aspect of our existence will be added to us. Blessed Augustine interpreted this Gospel verse as follows: 'If God is in the first place, everything else will be in its place.' We all need to truly realize that our life, with its joys and concerns, its spiritual and material components, is entirely in the hands of God, for He is the Almighty, the Creator of the visible and the invisible. One of the main tasks of the ascetic efforts of fasting is to return to our minds and hearts the awareness of these great and lofty truths." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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