The Nativity of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. Metropolitan Alexander performed the festive Liturgy in the main church of the southern capital

January 7, 2024 - Christmas according to the flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

On the night of January 6-7, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, performed the festive Divine Liturgy at the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty.

According to tradition, before the start of the night service, Bishop Metropolitan spoke to journalists from state and private media, congratulating the people of Kazakhstan on the holiday of peace and God’s love for people. The briefing was organized with the support of the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency.

During the Liturgy, the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District was served by: the confessor of the Alma-Ata diocese, Archimandrite John (Sazonov); Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, head of the Metropolitan District's public relations department, keymaster of the Ascension Cathedral; member of the Patriarchal Commission on Physical Culture and Sports, Hegumen Philip (Moiseev); acting rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Deputy Principal of the Ascension Cathedral, Priest Andrei Shklyar; the head of the personal secretariat of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky), the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Protodeacon Nikolai Grinkevich, head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service, Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, Deacon Vitaly Bystrushkin, Deacon Alexander Piven, Deacon Sergiy Slesarchuk.

In the center of the temple, on a decorated lectern, reclined an icon of the Nativity of Christ with a reliquary attached to it with a part of the stone of the Bethlehem Cave. The Ark is a smaller copy of the silver star that marks the birthplace of the Savior of the world in the Bethlehem cave.

In accordance with the liturgical Charter, special antiphons are performed during the Christmas Liturgy, consisting of prophetic psalms: 110th “I will confess to You, Lord, with all my heart” with the refrain “Prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us”, 111th “Blessed is the man, fear the Lord" with the refrain "Save us, Son of God, born of the Virgin, singing Thee: Hallelujah" and the 109th "Speech of the Lord to my Lord" with the refrain - the troparion of the holiday "Thy Nativity, Christ our God." Instead of the Trisagion, the baptismal hymn was sung at the Liturgy: “All were baptized into Christ...”, in remembrance of the ancient tradition of baptism of catechumens on this day. The letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians (Chapter 4, verses 4-7), telling about our adoption to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel conception about the worship of the Infant Christ of the wise men (Gospel of Matthew: Chapter 2, 1-12 verses) were read. .

Liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of the Honored Artist of Russia, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikova.

Numerous parishioners gathered to glorify the feast of the Nativity of Christ in the main church of the southern capital. The president of the public foundation “Apostle” G.G.Sosnovsky prayed during the service.

The guests of the holiday were the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Almaty D.A. Turaev with his wife, head of the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in the Republic of Kazakhstan M.S. Simakova.

Using the communion verse, Priest Andrei Shklyar read out the Christmas message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Numerous believers partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

At the end of the Liturgy, the clergy and choir performed glorification before the icon of the holiday, performing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Nativity of Christ. Many years were proclaimed to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; To the head, archpastors, clergy and flock of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; To the President, authorities, military and all the people of Kazakhstan.

Metropolitan Alexander addressed the clergy and parishioners with words of congratulations on the holiday of the coming of Christ the Giver of Life into the world and delivered a sermon.

The live broadcast of the Liturgy was carried out by the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye” (director - Honored Worker of Culture V. Posadneva, chief cameraman - A. Schmidt); photographic recording by information department employee I. Burenin.

Security and order in the Ascension Cathedral and in the adjacent territory were ensured by the Cossacks of the Semirechye Cossack Union, led by Ataman V.S. Shikhotov.

The archpastor congratulated the cleric of the Ascension Cathedral, Protodeacon Vladimir Syrovatsky, on his birthday, presented him with a holy prosphora and wished God’s help in his work for the good of the Church of Christ.

Participants in the festive service were given educational brochures “Holy Days from Christmas to Epiphany”, prepared by the publishing department of the Metropolitan District with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander.

“Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on the all-joyful holiday of peace and God’s love - the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
“On this day God came to earth and man ascended to heaven,” the Church now sings. Every time we celebrate the Nativity of Christ, we are privileged through the depths of centuries to spiritually contemplate the great and inexpressible mystery of Divine love for the human race - “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In the silence of that blessed night, from the wretched den, the Divine dawn of the day of salvation shone out across the entire universe. In Heaven, the advent of this new era of human existence - the coming of God in the flesh to people - was greeted by angelic forces with jubilant singing: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14), in Bethlehem - the worship of humble shepherds and the gifts of the sages of the East. Imitating the angels, shepherds and wise men, we now glorify God with psalms and songs from the Spirit (Eph. 5:19), we give Him praise and thank Him with trembling.
The holiday of the Nativity of Christ gives extraordinary consolation to believing hearts. "God is with us!" (Isa. 8:10), therefore, we can always be an example of faith, hope and love for our neighbors. "God is with us!" - therefore, He chose us to act wherever people need support and consolation. There is no need to be embarrassed if our strength is small, if our capabilities are limited, if the good done seems insignificant, even if, apart from prayer and words of compassion, we cannot help anyone in need in any other way. Let us remember that the Lord, who promised a reward even for a cup of cold water (Mark 9:41), in the words of St. John Chrysostom, “accepts deeds, welcomes desire, appreciates action and praises intention.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.