October 22, 2024 – the feast day commemorating the finding of the relics of St. Sebastian of Karaganda, one of the last Optina Elders and the heavenly patron of Kazakhstan.
A festive Divine Liturgy was held at the Holy Trinity-Sebastian Cathedral in Karaganda in celebration of the patronal feast and the arrival of the reliquary containing the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan presided over the service.
The Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was joined by Archbishop Sebastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk, Archbishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola, Bishop Chrysanthe of Shymkent and Turkestan, and Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese. Also serving were the spiritual child and disciple of St. Sebastian, Archimandrite Peter (Goroshko), spiritual father of the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Karaganda; Protopriest Eugene Vorobyov, rector of the Almaty Church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon of the Theotokos; Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev), Dean of the Astana Church District; Igumen Aristarchus (Khmyrov); Igumen Onisim (Tulnikov), rector of the St. Andrew’s Church in Zhezkazgan; Hieromonk Moses (Patrikeyev), head of the Public Relations Department of the Karaganda Diocese; Protopriest Vladimir Freigang, Dean of the Abai Church District; Protopriest Alexander Ugolkov, head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Diocese; Protopriest Dmitry Patrikeyev, Secretary of the Karaganda Diocesan Administration; Protopriest Dmitry Baydek, sacristan of the Assumption Cathedral; Protopriest Sergei Kaliev, sacristan of the Constantine and Helen Cathedral; Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), head of the Metropolitan’s secretariat; Priest George Sidorov, head of the Metropolitan’s administrative secretariat; Priest Cyril Freigang, rector of the St. Nicholas Church in Talgar; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Deacon Ioann Churkin, and clergy from the Karaganda Diocese.
The liturgical hymns were performed by the diocesan choir of Karaganda under the direction of V. Teslenko. In attendance were Abbess Olimpiada (Salopeko), abbess of the Nativity of the Theotokos Women’s Monastery, along with the sisters of the monastery, staff of the diocesan administration, and students from local Sunday schools.
After the reading of the post-Communion hymn, Priest George Sidorov delivered Metropolitan Alexander’s address on the occasion of the arrival of the relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow in Kazakhstan.
A large number of the faithful partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, hymns of praise were sung in honor of St. Sebastian and Blessed Matrona before the reliquary containing her relics. Following the dismissal, a Many Years was sung for the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, His Holiness Kirill; the Head and episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; the President, authorities, military, and all the people of Kazakhstan.
Archbishop Sebastian expressed gratitude to Metropolitan Alexander for the spiritual gift to the faithful of the “Miners’ Capital” – the opportunity to venerate the great relics of Blessed Matrona of Moscow.
The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated Archbishop Sebastian on his namesday and presented him with the episcopal insignia of a pectoral cross and a panagia.
Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the hierarchs, clergy, and all the participants in the celebrations on the feast of St. Sebastian and the arrival of the relics of Blessed Matrona, addressing the faithful with words of spiritual instruction.
The Metropolitan then sprinkled the numerous faithful with holy water, after which the hierarchs, clergy, and laity processed to the monument of St. Sebastian, where flowers were laid at his monument.
Following the service, the veneration of the relics of Blessed Matrona began, with residents and guests of Karaganda, as well as a large number of pilgrims from nearby towns and villages, gathering to offer prayers to the holy intercessor.
“Today we celebrate the memory of an outstanding ascetic of piety, a confessor of the faith in the 20th century, and one of the last elders of Optina Monastery – St. Sebastian of Karaganda. From his youth, the future ascetic of Karaganda, having received his first lessons in Orthodoxy from his parents, came to deeply believe in Christ. At the age of four, when he first visited Optina Monastery, he was forever captivated by the spiritual beauty of monasticism. Even then, the heart of this simple, humble boy from the depths of the Oryol region was filled with an all-consuming desire to serve the Lord, to live in obedience to the Church of Christ, to devote his talents and strength to the spiritual benefit of others, and to fulfill God’s will in his life. The young Stefan, as St. Sebastian was named at baptism, became a novice and later a monk in one of the most prominent spiritual centers of Russian Orthodoxy – Optina Monastery. Optina Monastery, which the renowned priest-philosopher Father Pavel Florensky called the ‘Spiritual Clinic for Many Wounded Souls,’ became for Monk Sebastian a school of prayer, obedience, patience, and humility. Under the wise guidance of the renowned elders, Hieroschemamonk Joseph (Litovkin) and Hieromonk Nectarius (Tikhonov), and inspired by their ascetic feats and personal examples, Monk Sebastian acquired many spiritual gifts, which he would generously share with his numerous spiritual children in the future. The times of ascetic labor and monastic obedience gave way in the life of St. Sebastian to the fiery trials that were sent for testing (1 Peter 4:12). Only God knows how much pain the ascetic’s soul endured at the sight of the ‘abomination of desolation’ (Dan. 11:31) that had set in where once stood his beloved Optina Monastery. By God’s will, St. Sebastian opened a new chapter in its existence – the period of eldership in exile. Amid fierce persecution from godless authorities, oppression from the Renovationist schismatics, and the humiliation and mockery from those who had forgotten God, St. Sebastian never lost his burning desire ‘to testify to the Gospel of God’s grace’ (Acts 20:24). For his steadfast confession of the gospel truth, this humble pastor was sentenced to seven years of labor in concentration camps. In 1934, Karaganda became an inseparable part of St. Sebastian’s life. After his release from the Karaganda labor camp in April 1939, the elder had the opportunity to return to any region of Russia where his spiritual children awaited him. But unexpectedly, he said, ‘We will stay here. Life here is different, and the people are different. The people here are soulful, conscious, having endured much suffering. We will bring more benefit here; this is our second homeland. I am staying!’ In these words, we hear St. Sebastian’s testament to all of us living on the God-saved land of Kazakhstan – a land of the feats of countless martyrs for the faith of Christ – reminding us of our duty to be guardians of the Orthodox sanctities of Kazakhstan and to develop the spiritual life of our country. Humbled, exhausted by prisons and labor camps, by excessive work, hunger, and illness, St. Sebastian became a great intercessor in prayer, a clairvoyant, and a wondrous miracle worker of the land of Kazakhstan. The small church in Mikhailovka, Karaganda, miraculously built by him during the years of atheistic persecution of Orthodoxy, became a second Optina for hundreds of thousands of believers seeking spiritual solace and support from all regions of the vast country. Today, we have the opportunity to partake of the spiritual riches of St. Sebastian – an inexhaustible source of the living ‘water that leads to eternal life’ (John 4:14). May the experience of active piety, preserved in the life of the Karaganda ascetic and in the collective memory of his life and monastic labors, inspire all of us to purify our souls and hearts and to follow the blessed example of the Orthodox saints, who fulfilled the commandment to love God and neighbor through their actions. Three great gifts have been left to us by the holy ascetic: the example of his virtuous life, meticulously described by his spiritual children and contemporaries; his spirit-bearing teachings, sermons, and exhortations; and the reliquary containing his honorable relics, which pour forth help and healing to all who come to God in prayer with faith. On the day of the saint’s memory, let us turn our spiritual gaze to St. Sebastian’s testament. These words were spoken by him shortly before his passing into eternal life: ‘I ask you all for only one thing: live in peace. Peace and love are the most important things. If you have these among yourselves, you will always have joy in your hearts.’ Bending our knees before the relics and iconographic depictions of the holy elder, we ask him to be with us. We ask him to lift up his holy prayers before the throne of the Lord, beseeching Him to send us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to grant us unashamed faith, steadfast hope, and sincere love. We turn to St. Sebastian with a prayer to bless our native Kazakh land and ask the Creator and Giver of all good things to grant peace to the whole world and salvation to our souls.”
From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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