Relics of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon

In the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Almaty, a great shrine is kept – a reliquary adorned with enamels containing the healing relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon, including a part of his holy head.

The honorable relics of the Great Martyr are a gift to St. Nicholas Cathedral from Bishop Dmitry (Abashidze) of Turkestan and Tashkent, who is venerated as a saint in the schema of Anthony. He was glorified at the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on June 14, 2011.

At the request of the Orthodox believers of the Turkestan Diocese, in 1910, Bishop Dmitry (Abashidze) of Turkestan and Tashkent sent a request to the abbot of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos to bless the residents of Semirechye with a relic of the Great Martyr Panteleimon. Soon, a part of the head of the healer Panteleimon, as well as relics of Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople, were transferred by the Koinotita of Mount Athos to the Athos Metochion in Odessa, where they were received by Deacon Stefan Ponomarev of the St. Nicholas Church in the city of Verny, sent by Bishop Dmitry.

On the feast day of the healer Panteleimon, July 27 (August 9 according to the new style), the relics were solemnly received ten versts from the city of Verny by a procession. The great gift from Athos – a part of the head of the healer Panteleimon, relics of Saint Gregory the Theologian, and Saint Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople – was received from Father Stefan by the priest leading the procession, Alexander Skalsky. Near the city, at the Iversko-Serafimovskaya Convent, the shrine was venerated with a bow by Bishop Dmitry and all the clergy. The bishop, after reading a prayer to the Great Martyr, raised the reliquary over his head and entered under a canopy made in the form of an elegant chapel, carried by banner bearers. The military accompanied the shrine and the clergy in a long chain. Following the shrine were the governor and a military choir, which sang "How Glorious" throughout the way.

The procession arrived at St. Nicholas Cathedral. The bishop entered the altar and placed the reliquary with the shrine on the holy altar. The Divine Liturgy began, after which His Grace, lifting the holy relics, proceeded in a procession around the church to the cathedral square, where, in the presence of a large crowd, he conducted a service with the blessing of water, read an akathist, and then returned to the church with the shrine. "Today," said the warden of St. Nicholas Cathedral in a word of thanks, "will forever remain in the memory of our parish. It seems to us that today the whole universe shares our celebration and praises the greatness of God."