Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. 35th anniversary of the archpastoral service of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan (+VIDEO)

September 27, 2024 is the twelfth feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross is a special day in the life of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan - 35 years ago, the episcopal consecration of Bishop Alexander took place in the Yelokhovo Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen, it was headed by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Vladimir of Rostov and Novocherkassk (later - the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church).

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Ascension Cathedral in Alma-Ata.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: Administrator of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Vicar of the Astana Diocese Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan; Dean of the parishes of Almaty, Rector of the Nikolsky Cathedral Mitred Archpriest Valery Zakharov, Rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the city of Almaty Mitred Archpriest Evgeny Vorobyov, Spiritual Father of the Almaty Diocese Archimandrite John (Sazonov), Sacristan of the Ascension Cathedral, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Alexander Suvorov; member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports Hegumen Philip (Moiseyev), Acting Rector of the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, Head of the Information Department of the Metropolitan District Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Head of the Metropolitan's Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Key Keeper of the Kazan Cathedral in Alma-Ata Priest Georgy Rublinsky; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, Head of the Metropolitan's Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon John Churkin, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Andrei Ivashinin, Deacon John Zhuchkov, Deacon Ilya Vorobyov.

On the lectern in the center of the church lay the Cross brought out the day before - a gift from the ever-memorable His Beatitude Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem with particles of the Life-giving Wood of the Cross of the Lord.

The chants were performed by the choir of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia O.N. Ovchinnikov and the cathedral choir under the direction of N. Zubrevich.

In accordance with the liturgical Charter, instead of the Trisagion Hymn, the sticheron was sung at the Liturgy: "We bow down to Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection."

The following were especially commemorated during the service: His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and the deceased participants in the episcopal consecration of Metropolitan Alexander - His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan), Metropolitan Chrysanthus (Chepil) and Metropolitan Isidore (Kirichenko); spiritual mentor – Archbishop Meliton (Solovyov); the ever-memorable Kazakh hierarchs – Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) and Archbishop Sofonia (Sokolsky), and all who worked for the sake of establishing Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan.

After the cherubic hymn, Metropolitan Alexander performed the priestly ordination of the cleric of the house church of the metropolitan residence, Deacon Andrei Ivashinin.

The sermon on the communion verse was delivered by Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov.

The Liturgy ended with glorification before the Cross of the Lord – the clergy, choir and people sang the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast, as well as the sticheron “We bow down to Thy Cross, O Master…”.

Many years were proclaimed for the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'; To the Head and Most Reverend Archpastors of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; to the President of the country K.-Zh.K. Tokayev; to the authorities, army and all the people of Kazakhstan.

Bishop Gennady read out the Patriarchal congratulations to Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the 35th anniversary of his archpastoral ordination.

Archpriest Valery Zakharov addressed the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan with words of good wishes on behalf of the clergy and flock of the Almaty Diocese. The dean presented the Bishop-Metropolitan with an episcopal staff as a prayerful remembrance.

Metropolitan Alexander expressed words of gratitude for the good wishes and asked those present in the church for special prayers for the sending of God's gracious help in serving the Church of Christ, after which he congratulated the clergy and believers on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and delivered a sermon.

The video recording of the metropolitan service was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District "Semirechye" (Director - Honored Cultural Worker V.L. Posadneva, cameraman A. Schmidt); photography - by an employee of the information department A. Shcheglov.

"Two thousand years ago on the Cross our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily suffered cruel and shameful torments for our salvation and "trampled down death by death." Stained with the blood of the Savior, sanctified by His suffering, the Cross became an altar of God's love for people and a sign of eternal victory over sin, damnation and death. The great teacher of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom, says this about the Tree of the Cross: "The Cross is a holiday and a spiritual triumph. It has become the cause of countless blessings for us: it has freed us from error, enlightened those sitting in darkness, reconciled us with God." Through the Cross, the All-Merciful Lord grants people healing from numerous illnesses, both physical and mental, liberation from passions, sinful inclinations and vices. The grace emanating from the Holy Cross is so great that it is capable of not only healing ailments, but, as church history testifies, resurrecting the dead. With what thoughts, with what inner disposition should we approach the Cross, worship the Life-giving Tree? It is impossible to worship the Cross with malice, with bad thoughts about people. Approaching this main Shrine of the entire universe, it is important to ask the Lord for the strength not to do evil and to erase from the heart offenses and hostility. And then Divine grace, the love of Christ will enter our hearts. It is important that each of us, praying before the Cross of Christ, follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ in long-suffering and forgiveness, in love and mercy. It is necessary that, imitating the Lord, who said a prayer about the crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), a Christian sincerely forgive all his offenders and enemies. Kissing the Life-giving Tree, let us pray to the Lord that He will protect us with the power of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross, strengthen our weak powers and sanctify our minds and feelings, so that we can worthily and righteously bear our life’s cross.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.