On the Feast Day of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Alexander of Svir, Metropolitan Alexander Celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Representation of the Metropolitan District in Moscow

On September 12, 2024, the feast day of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Alexander of Svir, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, prayerfully marking his name day, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Love, and Hope, and their mother Sophia, at the Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow, which serves as the Representation of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.

His Eminence was concelebrated by: Archimandrite George (Evdachev), abbot of the St. George Monastery in Meshchovsk (Kaluga Metropolia); Hieromonk Agafangel (Gagua), a doctor of medical sciences and professor, and a cleric of the Representation; Protopriest Sergey Shastin, a cleric of the Krutitsk Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow; Hieromonk Antony (Drobyazko), assistant to the Head of the Metropolitan District; and the clergy of the Representation.

The church choir, directed by Anna Rozhnova, sang the liturgical hymns.

Among those praying during the Liturgy were: Governor of the Tomsk Region V.V. Mazur; chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the National Center for Assistance to Missing and Affected Children, and the General Director of the St. Basil the Great Foundation, E.I. Milskaia; staff members of the Representation; benefactors of the Patriarchal Metochion; and parishioners of the church.

The service concluded with the glorification of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Alexander of Svir. A polychronion (Many Years) was chanted for the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia; the Head and episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; the President of Kazakhstan K.-Zh.K. Tokayev; and the governments, military, and peoples of Kazakhstan and Russia.

Hieromonk Antony (Drobyazko) read the congratulatory address of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on the occasion of Metropolitan Alexander’s name day. The Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District expressed his gratitude for the well-wishes and requested the fervent prayers of those present for the bestowal of God's grace in his service to the Church of Christ. He then congratulated the clergy and faithful on the feast day of the great saints—St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Alexander of Svir.