On November 11, 2024, the feast day of the Venerable Martyr Anastasia of Rome, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Charity, and their Mother Sophia at the Patriarchal Representation of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan in Moscow.
Serving with the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were: Hieromonk Antony (Drobyazko), the sacristan of the church; Hegumen Agafangel (Gagua), Vice-Rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medicine, and Professor; Protopriest Lev Aznovaryan, sacristan of the Nikolskaya house church at the Clinical and Scientific Center for Otorhinolaryngology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation; Hieromonk Daniel (Makagon); Deacon Anatoly Ledenev and Deacon Roman Frolov.
The service was attended by staff of the Representation and parishioners of the church.
The hymns were sung by the church choir under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.
During the service, the Metropolitan offered prayers for the multiplication of love and the eradication of all hatred and malice.
After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the hierarch conducted a memorial service (panikhida) for his late mother, the ever-remembered servant of God Anastasia, who bore the name of the Roman Venerable Martyr in Holy Baptism.
In his concluding homily, Metropolitan Alexander shared with the faithful the life and martyrdom of Saint Anastasia of Rome.
The feast of the Venerable Martyr Anastasia holds a special place in the life of Metropolitan Alexander. For over 20 years as the Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, he oversaw the revival of 11 monastic communities in Kostroma. One of the first monasteries restored was the ancient Epiphany-Anastasiin Convent, founded by Saint Nikita, a disciple and relative of Saint Sergius of Radonezh.
On August 17, 1991, the consecration of the restored Epiphany-Anastasiin Cathedral took place, making it the cathedral of the Kostroma Diocese. The next day, the most revered icon of the Kostroma land—the wonder-working Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God—was solemnly transferred to the cathedral. In 1991, services resumed in the restored Smolensk Church; in 2006, the church in the lower level of the cathedral, dedicated to Saints Sergius of Radonezh and Nikita of Kostroma, was also restored. In December 2003, the honored relics of the locally venerated Saint Timon, Elder of Nadeeva, a disciple and spiritual friend of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, were laid to rest in the cathedral. Under the Metropolitan’s blessing, in 1993, a hospice for the elderly and Russia’s first church-run orphanage for children, named after Saint John of Kronstadt, were established at the convent.
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