The Three Holy Hierarchs/ Jan. 30th

[Nick Cobb]

The Three Holy Hierarchs/January 30th

> "The days following the feast of Epiphany are filled with liturgical
> commemorations of great saints of the Church. We find during this time of
> year celebrations in honor of such men as Ignatius of Antioch, Gregory of
> Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Maximus the Confessor,
> Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria and Mark of Ephesus; as well as the
> monastic saints Anthony, Paul, Macarius of Egypt, Euthymius, Theodosius and
> Ephraim of Syria. The month of January also includes the memory of such
> women martyrs as Domnica, Tatiana and Xenia. As such it is one of the
> richest times of the year for the contemplation of Christian sanctity.
>
> On the thirtieth of the month, almost as a summary of the season, the Church
> celebrates the feast of the three holy hierarchs: Basil the Great,
> Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; Gregory the Theologian, bishop of
> Nazianzus and archbishop of Constantinople; and John Chrysostom of Antioch,
> also archbishop of Constantinople. This day is known in the Orthodox Church
> as the celebration of Orthodox letters, the feast of theological studies and
> ecclesiastical schools.
>
> -Let us who love their words come together with hymns,
> -To honor the three great torch-bearers of the Triune Godhead,
> -Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.
> -These men have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine
> doctrines
> -They are flowing rivers of wisdom,
> -Who have filled all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge.
> -They ceaselessly intercede for us before the Holy Trinity.
> [Troparion]
>
> The three holy hierarchs were very different types of people. Basil the
> Great (d.379) was a diligent churchman, a solid thinker, a compassionate
> pastor, a staunch defender of orthodoxy and a monastic leader. Gregory the
> Theologian (d.389) was his best friend. They met together at the university
> of Athens where they studied literature, rhetoric and philosophy, only to
> abandon everything for the sake of following Christ. After spending time
> together in monastic solitude, Basil took up the task of defending the
> divinity of Christ as defined by the council of Nicea. He became a bishop
> and forced his reluctant friend also to enter the episcopate and to fight
> for the orthodox faith.
>
> Gregory was a delicate man, a contemplative and a poet. He was easily
> offended and often insulted. As a pastor he was less than a success. But as
> a theologian, he was the greatest. His homilies on the Holy Trinity,
> delivered to a tiny group of faithful orthodox Christians in Constantinople
> when the cathedral and the masses of the people were in the hands of the
> Arian heretics, remain classics of Orthodox theology.
>
> John Chrysostom (d.407) was a fiery preacher. He is called Chrysostom, which
> means 'golden-tongued,' because of his remarkable oratorical gifts. Saint
> John was solidly orthodox in all of his teachings, but is not considered
> primarily as a theologian. He is remembered and praised more for his
> teachings on the Christian life, his prophetic denunciations of injustice
> and evil, his pastoral care for the poor and oppressed, and his fearless
> opposition to those who would distort and betray the gospel of Christ,
> especially those in high places of power and responsibility. He died in
> exile, expelled from his church, in 407.
>
> The three holy hierarchs were surrounded by small groups of faithful
> supporters, including members of their families, who assisted and inspired
> them in their work. Basil's mother and grandmother, Emmelia and Macrina, as
> well as his sister Marcrina, are canonized saints of the Church, together
> with his brother Gregory of Nyssa. Both he and his brother Gregory
> considered their sister Macrina as their greatest teacher. Gregory the
> Theologian's mother Nonna is also a canonized saint. In his funeral oration
> for her, the holy father said that his mother gave him everything that he
> had in the Lord, including not only his physical life, but his spiritual
> life as well. Gregory's sister Theosebia, who some think was Gregory of
> Nyssa's wife, was praised by her brother as 'greater than the priests,'
> together with her sister Gorgonia. John Chrysostom's mother Anthusa is also
> a canonized saint of the church. His best friend and co-worker was the
> deaconess Olympiada (or Olympia), to whom he addressed his most moving
> letters at the end of his life. Thus we see that these great bishops,
> theologians and preachers were not alone in their efforts. They were in a
> real sense the products of a community of faith, devotion and learning; as
> well as its leaders and teachers.
>
> In contemplating the lives and works of Basil, Gregory and John we realize,
> more than anything else, how a small group of faithful people can do much
> for the edification of the Church and the salvation of souls. We see also
> how no one can live in isolation, how even the greatest of the saints needed
> other saints to inspire and encourage them, to instruct and support them in
> their service. We see as well that intelligence and learning are not enough.
> People's minds must be devoted to God and to divine wisdom and truth, but
> one must love God not only with all one's mind, but with all one's heart,
> soul and strength as well. The three holy hierarchs were men of ascetic
> discipline and fervent prayer. They were men of the Church, and not of the
> academy. And they were men who were willing not only to preach, but to
> practice what they preached; not only to talk but to work; and not only to
> work but to suffer for the Word of God Who came himself into the world not
> only to preach, but to suffer and die for the sake of the salvation of all.
>
> The times in which the three hierarchs lived were terrible times for the
> Church, certainly not less dark and depressing than the present times, and
> perhaps even more so in many respects. But these men, and the women who
> stood with them, were able to preserve faithfully to the end. It is because
> of these people in the past that we have Christian life in the Church
> today..."
>
> [Taken from, "The Winter Pascha" by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, 1984;
> available at: 800-204-book.]