The memory of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, the Wonderworker, was honored today, 19 December 2021, at the Dormition Cathedral in Tashkent. On this day the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the head of the Metropolitan District in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, and the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, concelebrating with Archbishop Antony of Uralsk and Karaganda; Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, vicar of the Diocese of Astana; Bishop Varnava of Pavlodar and Ekibastuz; Bishop Sevastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk; Bishop Amfilokhy of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk; Bishop Serapion of Kokshetau and Akmola; Bishop Daniil of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan; Bishop Vladimir of Petropavlovsk and Bulaevo; Bishop Pavel of Dushanbe and Tajikistan; and the clergy of the two Metropolitan Districts.
The liturgical hymns were sung by six choirs: the right-hand hierarchal choir (choir director T. Mitronina), the male choir of students of the Tashkent Theological Seminary (choir director O. Ilyasova), the choir of subdeacons (choir director Priest Vitaly Golban), the combined choir of the choir-directing and catechetical departments of the Tashkent Seminary (choir director A. Sladkova), the choir of the diocesan youth department (choir director E. Nikitina) and the Sunday school choir of the Dormition Cathedral (choir director T. Mitronina).
At the end of the Liturgy the archpastors offered their prayers to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and greeted one another, wishing spiritual joy in the celebrations.
Metropolitan Vikenty expressed his gratitude to Metropolitan Alexander for visiting the Diocese of Tashkent together with the entire episcopate of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Turkestan. "By God's mercy two Metropolitan Districts have been formed in these vast lands, but we preserve our unity," Metropolitan Vikenty emphasized. "And our meeting today in the cathedral shows that we are one: we serve together and we pray together".
Metropolitan Vikenty wished Metropolitan Alexander strength for many years and congratulated him on receiving the highest state award of the Republic of Kazakhstan: "It is a joy and a great comfort to us that our brother labors and carries out his ministry in such a way that he enjoys such recognition from the state authorities". Metropolitan Vikenty congratulated Metropolitan Alexander on the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, our great comforter and intercessor. "God grant that through the prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker the Lord may always show His mercy upon our dioceses of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District and the Central Asian Metropolitan District".
The head of the Metropolitan District in Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, addressing the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, the clergy and the laity, congratulated everyone on the little Pascha, the Lord's Day, and on the feast of St. Nicholas, "whom we all call a rule of faith and an image of meekness". In his greeting Metropolitan Alexander stressed the importance of the event that had gathered everyone under the vaults of the Dormition Cathedral in Tashkent: the 150th anniversary of the founding of what was once the largest diocese of the Russian Empire. "Today the merciful and generous Lord has given everyone who crossed the threshold of the cathedral the most sacred and spiritual joy: to take part in the Liturgy, to pray for the living, and to remember the labors and feats of those who have completed their earthly path", Metropolitan Alexander noted.
At the end of his address Metropolitan Alexander thanked the archpastor of Tashkent for his warm hospitality and the joy of communion in prayer.
The archpastors then served a moleben to all the saints of the two Metropolitan Districts on the cathedral square, in front of the spiritual center of the Central Asian Metropolitan District.
The Divine Liturgy was broadcast live on the Soyuz TV channel.
