Congratulations to Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on Gratitude Day

On March 1, Kazakhstan celebrates Gratitude Day. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan addressed his congratulations to the people of Kazakhstan.

Dear people of Kazakhstan! Dear brothers and sisters!

I congratulate you on the special holiday that our country, blessed Kazakhstan, celebrates on the first day of calendar spring - Gratitude Day!

Every year this holiday becomes more and more important, actualizes the harsh historical lessons of the last century, awakens in the souls of fellow citizens good feelings that unite representatives of different ethnic groups, cultures and religious traditions. Head of State K.-J.K. Tokayev says this about this celebration: “On Gratitude Day, we all pay tribute to each other for the desire to live in friendship and harmony for the sake of the prosperity of the people. All the successes of our Independence became possible thanks to the unity of our society.”

Celebrations of Gratitude Day are a tribute of respect and gratitude to the indigenous population of the country, first of all, to the Kazakhs, who showed mercy and nobility and accepted a huge number of repressed migrants as their own people. Among those exiled to Kazakhstan in the tragic decades of the twentieth century were countless representatives of the Orthodox Church - hierarchs, priests, monastics and pious laity. By providing assistance to the exiled clergy and believers, the inhabitants of the Great Steppe contributed to the preservation of the Orthodox faith and prepared for spiritual revival throughout the post-Soviet space.

Let the good tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving Day, which has become part of the public life of the Republic, help strengthen peace and harmony, preserve the unity of our people and consolidate society in the implementation of new noble plans that Kazakhstan faces today, our common home.

With wishes of peace, health and prosperity,

HEAD OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF KAZAKHSTAN

METROPOLITAN OF ASTANAI AND KAZAKHSTAN