On the day of remembrance of the first martyr, Archdeacon Stephen, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the Southern capital

January 9, 2025 - the afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ and the day of remembrance of the apostle, first martyr and archdeacon Stephen.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Almaty.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was assisted by: vicars of the Astana diocese - Bishop Claudian of Taldykorgan and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; dean of the churches of Almaty, rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Rector of the Almaty Church in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Archpriest Yevgeny Vorobyov, Key Keeper of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral Archpriest Alexander Gaichenya, Rector of the Epiphany Church Archpriest Valery Shavrin, Dean of the Ili Church District Archpriest Alexander Zyryanov, Rector of the Nativity of the Mother of God Church in the Akzhar Microdistrict Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), Rector of the Michael the Archangel Church in the city of Kaskelen Archpriest Pavel Pridatchenko, Priest Petr Andrusenko, Head of the Personal Secretariat of the Metropolitan Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov, Hieromonk Sergiy (Vnukovsky), Hieromonk Cherubim (Levin), clergy of the Nativity of Christ of the temple, Priest Maxim Bely, Priest Maxim Idrisov, Sacristan of the Adriano-Natalievsky Temple, Priest Ioann Konoplev, Sacristan 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, Chief Physician of the St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) Orthodox Medical Center, Deacon Alexander Dzhodzhua, Hierodeacon Stefan (Popov), Deacon Rustik Yakubov, Deacon Sergiy Kipshakbaev, Deacon Vyacheslav Solomatov, Deacon Alexander Piven.

Before the start of the service, a great relic of Orthodoxy, a reliquary with a part of the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to the temple for prayerful worship and spiritual strengthening of the believers.

For the prayerful consolation of the faithful, a reliquary containing a particle of the relics of the holy Archdeacon Stefan was brought to the church for the service.

The choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Alma-Ata sang under the direction of E. Skorova.

Following the communion verse, Priest Georgy Rublinsky read out the Christmas message of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

At the end of the Liturgy, the Nativity of Christ was glorified, after which Metropolitan Alexander congratulated the archpastors, clergy and parishioners on the feast of the coming of God the Word into the world and addressed the congregation with a sermon.

At the end of the service, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated the cleric of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Hierodeacon Stefan (Popov), on his name day and presented him with a holy prosphora, wishing him God's mercy, spiritual and physical health and zealous service to the Church of Christ.

"Today we turn our gaze to that distant time when the Only Begotten Son of God came into the world, born of the Most Pure Virgin Mary and changed the entire history of the human race with His appearance. "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) - we hear the words about the God-Man Christ in one of the earliest apostolic sermons. The Nativity of Christ is therefore called by the Fathers and Teachers of the Church the greatest and most important moment in history, because no one except God Himself could correct human nature damaged by sin, save people from death, open the gates to eternal and blessed life. No one could save man - not the best of people, "not an intercessor, not an angel." “No one other than the Savior Himself, who in the beginning created the universe from nothing, could grant incorruptibility to our corruptible nature,” teaches us Saint Athanasius the Great, “no one other than our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the true Life, could raise our mortal nature to immortality.”

In the Gospel we read how the great miracle of the Nativity of Christ glorified the entire universe: the angels exclaimed with delight: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests!” (Luke 2:14), the heavens shone with a miraculous star, which “stood over the place where the Child was” (Matt. 2:9), “and the earth,” as it sung in the festive kontakion, “brings a cave to the Inaccessible One,” the people awaiting salvation met the Lord in the form of a Child, “glorifying and praising God for all the things they heard and seen” (Luke 2:20). “So come, let us worship with the Magi,” Saint Basil the Great calls us, “let us give glory with the shepherds and let us rejoice with the angels, “today in the town of David a Savior has been bor to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). And another Father of the Church, Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea, tells us about the gifts revealed at the Nativity of Christ: “Paradise was opened to the thief, curses were turned into blessings, all sins were abolished, wickedness was banished, truth came, pure morals were sown, virtue was transplanted on earth, angels entered into communication with people and people received the boldness to speak with angels. Why and for what reason did this happen? Because God came into the world and because people were raised up to heaven.” In the festive hymns of these days, the call to make a spiritual journey to Bethlehem together with the Magi will be repeated many times, in order to see the newborn God-child in the manger. “Let us all come to where Christ is born,” Saint Roman the Melodist addresses us, “having in our minds the star of faith and let us bring gifts worthy of Him – the best of virtues.” According to the general opinion of the holy fathers, our gifts to the Begotten God are good deeds, or more precisely, a change in our entire way of life in accordance with the high calling of a Christian." From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.