Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Sunday Liturgy in the Nikolsky Cathedral in Aktobe

September 1, 2024 - the afterfeast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, a celebration in honor of the Donskoy Icon of the Mother of God.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Nikolsky Cathedral in the city of Aktobe.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Bishop Ignatius of Aktobe and Kyzylorda, Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan; Rector of the Almaty Church in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, Acting Dean of the Aktobe church district Hieromonk Cyprian (Dakhno), rector of the Church of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir in the city of Aktobe Archpriest Dmitry Soloviev, head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), clergy of the Aktobe diocese; head of the protocol service of the Metropolitan Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, secretary of the Aktobe diocese Boris Fateyev, Deacon Sergiy Meshkov.

By the beginning of the service, the following were delivered to the main church of the Aktobe diocese for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of the faithful: an exact copy, “measure for measure”, of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Healer”, reliquaries with great relics of Orthodoxy – part of the robe of the Queen of Heaven and a stone from the tomb of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the Nikolsky Cathedral under the direction of S. Koroleva.

The sermon on the communion verse was delivered by Archpriest Dmitry Soloviev.

The Liturgy ended with the glorification of the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, after which the Metropolitan congratulated the hierarchs, clergy and laity on Sunday – a small Easter and delivered a word of instruction.

At the end of the service, the worship of the brought relics began. Until late in the evening, the diocesan clergy will perform prayers with an akathist to the Queen of Heaven.

After the Liturgy, a meeting was held between the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of the Aktobe Region A.Zh. Turaliev, during which issues of interaction between the Aktobe Diocese and the secular authorities of the region were discussed.

“We know that eternal life is achieved through love for God and love for one’s neighbor, but the Lord Himself revealed to us another great truth: divine food leads a person to the Kingdom of Heaven – the holy life-giving Mysteries of Christ – the most pure Body and Blood of our Savior. Participation in the sacrament of Communion is a source of virtue and an effective means of deliverance from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). It is impossible, looking from the outside, to feel those gifts of grace, to perceive that consolation and help from the Lord, which are given to a believer by the correct observance of the fast, frequent visits to the temple of God, participation in the sacraments. Personal spiritual experience cannot be replaced by any efforts of the mind, tension of the will or attention of the senses, for “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 39:9) – with the words of the Psalmist David, the Church of Christ calls us to join in the real, genuine spiritual life.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.