"While some Christians walked away from the world denouncing it, the Three Hierarchs seized the world and confronted it. They did not cower before the world but rather transformed it with the light of the resurrection."

“The three great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with divine rays of doctrine.” (Apolytikion for the Feast of the Three Hierarchs)

Such is the praise that the Church heaps upon the saintly personages of those great fathers of the Church known as “The Three Hierarchs”—St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. Her praise, however, does not end with this verse from the Apolytikion of the feast we celebrate today.

For the Church extols these great saints, using the richest vocabulary, as “those who have the manner of the Apostles,” “the teachers of the oecumene,” “the instruments of grace,” “the depths of wisdom,” “the oceanic sources of the spirit,” “the living water which produces the brightest diamonds,” “the trees that bear the fruit of joy and gladness,” “the coals that burn with an unquenchable fire,” “the castles of faith,” “the expert healers of the sickness of soul and body,” … and even more succinctly as “the theologians,” … “the foundations,” … “the golden mouths of God.”

The fervor with which the Church celebrates these great saints should tell us something about the amazing lives they led and their impact on the Christian faith.

So great was the contribution of each father, that selecting how and when to celebrate them became a struggle which the Church had to deal with. Some seven centuries after these holy fathers had fallen asleep in the Lord, the Church was faced with just this dilemma. For groups had formed around the memory of each of the saints with each one vying to have their saint—either Basil, Gregory, or Chrysostom—regarded as the preeminent father.

Thus we had Basilians, Gregorians, and Johannites quarreling over how to commemorate their respective saints. The solution was given by Bishop John of Ευϕχαιτα, who had a vision of the Three Hierarchs standing before the throne of God as equals. They commanded John to compose a common service for the three of them. This he did, after which, the Church has recognized these three bishops—along with Saints Athanasios and Cyril of Alexandria—as the supreme ecumenical theologians of the Church. Indeed, they are the “three great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity.”

Each of these fathers contributed their own individual gifts to the life of the Church and her theology at a time when the Church had ceased to be harassed from outside forces and was instead being consumed by turmoil and heresy from within.

Basil was a father who was a man of action, and his ministry was most definitely one of orthopraxia or right action. He founded the first orphanage, the famous Basiliad, as well as hospitals and other philanthropic centers. His classmate, Gregory, most definitely earned the title of “theologian” for he was “a visionary of the Church, who, becoming captive to the uncreated light of the divine glory, made the vision of God the first aim and supreme value of his life.”

Thus we see the distinction between Basil and Gregory. Basil sought to take the “eternal and unquenchable light of God” and shine it on the created world through vigorous activity rooted in the Christian ethos and dogma of love. This is a light that shone with the love of God and neighbor that the world was just beginning to bask in, at a time when Christianity had recently become legalized and legitimized. Conversely, Gregory sought to bring all of creation upward toward this uncreated light so that humanity could take its first step towards a mystical communion with God.

And then there is John, the Golden Mouth—Chrysostom. John completes the perfect threesome for he is wholly a synthesis of Basil and Gregory. St. John Chrysostom combines the worldly activity of Basil with the ethereal theology of Gregory being at once “practical and theoretical, a pastor and an ascetic, an erudite scholar, and a dedicated believer.” Nowhere do we see this better exemplified than in the divine liturgy which bears this great saint’s name for, indeed, this is the place where heaven and earth meet and the “angles dwell among men.”

The influence of these three great fathers and saints on our Church cannot be understated. Each was steeped in Greek philosophy and the rhetorical methods of their age. While some Christians walked away from the world denouncing it, the Three Hierarchs seized the world and confronted it. They did not cower before the world but rather transformed it with the light of the resurrection. As no one had done before, Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom took philosophy, science and other worldly disciplines and sanctified them—they made them Christian. In doing so they did not seek to reconcile Christianity to the contemporary norms of the day, but rather they stripped from them their pagan skins and replaced them with glorified coverings.

Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom are models of Christian life for us—for taken together, the Three Hierarchs show us what it is to be a Christian. We must engage the world, applying our Christian faith, as did Basil.

Our Philoptochos, GOYA, Men’s League, and many other Church organizations, through their charitable activities, demonstrate the best of St. Basil and his rigorous application of orthopraxia—right action. St. Basil calls us to take that which Christ has given us and apply it. For our faith is not a stale artifact to be carted out on Sundays only … rather, it is a living flame that burns within us and moves us to engage the world in a Christian context rather than succumb to the norms and standards offered to us by secular forces.

Where Basil calls us to action, Gregory the Theologian calls us to reflection and communion with God. Gregory, through his askesis and theology shows us that God is not some abstract concept, but a real, active presence in our lives that we are able to communicate with and interact with. The Theologian teaches us that, despite the claims of the secular world, a life in Christ and of divine glory is the summit of all true knowledge and science.

Lastly, Chrysostom teaches us that you can never separate theology from practical life. Our theology is not meant to be read, or mused over, rather it is meant to be lived. Nowhere is this more manifested then in the many writings, biblical exegeses, and sermons authored by Chrysostom—sermons and writings that are just as pertinent and biting today as they were in the fourth century.

This is the collective legacy of the Three Hierarchs, which we celebrate here today. It is a legacy that shines forth from the testimony of their ministry in this world. It is a legacy that is true to the words of Christ in today’s gospel message when he says, “You are the light of the world.” It is a legacy that truly “shines forth before others” showing the good works of the Three Hierarchs so that others may “give glory to our Father in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14]. It is also, however, a living legacy that continues to illuminate us today. It is an illumination that finds its source in “the three great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity.”

May God bless you and keep you—In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Fr. Demetrios E. Tonias is the pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Concord, NH, one of many "Share the Light Parishes" around the country that partner with the Orthodox Christian Network in a cooperative effort to build an effective media outreach for Orthodoxy. Fr. Demetrios, whose articles and sermons will regularly appear on MyOCN.net, holds an M.Div. and Th.M. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in historical theology at Boston College. You can read more written by Fr. Demetrios and listen to his parish's OCN-produced Internet radio station, by visiting Holy Trinity's Web site.

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