November 17, 2024 – the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, the commemoration day of Venerable Ioannicius the Great and the Hieromartyr Priest Ismail (Bazilevsky), who suffered martyrdom in Karaganda in 1941. The third Sunday of November also marks the annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, recognized as part of the UN’s system of international and world observances.
Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and Their Mother Sophia at the Patriarchal Compound in Moscow, representing the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were: the Prorector of the Almaty Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Hegumen Agafangel (Gagua); the Assistant to the Head of the Metropolitan District, Hieromonk Antony (Drobiazko), and clergy of the compound.
The service was attended by staff of the Representation and parishioners of the church.
The liturgical hymns were performed by the church choir under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.
During the service, prayers were offered for the repose of “all those who have perished in road traffic accidents.”
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District congratulated the participants in the service on the Sunday – the “Little Pascha” – and delivered a sermon.
“It is deeply regrettable to observe a cooling of fervor in some Orthodox Christians toward attending the Church of God, especially on the eve of Sundays and great feasts. Many reasons are cited as excuses—work, household chores, physical fatigue. However, if we impartially reflect on how much time most of us devote each week to God and to our immortal souls, the number of hours and minutes will be rather small. Indeed, the pace of life today differs significantly from past centuries, there is more hustle, more cares, and seemingly less time. But St. John Chrysostom offers a different perspective on this issue, inviting us to see its true causes: ‘Many things, both in public and private affairs, do not go according to our desire because we do not first concern ourselves with the spiritual, but with the worldly.’ The Lord Himself commanded: ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,’ and promised that all aspects of our earthly life 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 proper place.’ It is imperative for all of us to genuinely realize that our life, with its joys and sorrows, its spiritual and material dimensions, is entirely in God’s hands, for He is the Almighty, the Creator of the visible and invisible. One of the main purposes of the ascetic struggle of fasting is to return this awareness of great and exalted truths to our minds and hearts.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.
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