On Wednesday, 12th February 2025, the memory of the Three Hierarchs—Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom—was celebrated by the Patriarchate at the Holy Trinity Church on the Hill of Holy Zion, in the building which also houses the Patriarchal Seminary School of Zion. This shared feast of the Three Hierarchs was introduced to the Church in the 11th century by John Mauropodos, who also wrote a common canon for the Saints, aiming to address the problem of the faithful’s division into three factions: the Basilians, Gregorians, and Johannines.
The memory of the Three Hierarchs is also celebrated as protectors of education, due to their precise and profound Christian education, their knowledge of Greek education, and their contribution to the Christian use of classical letters, primarily through the work of Basil the Great directed towards the youth, “so that they may benefit from Greek words.”
In honour of “these three greatest lights of the Triune Godhead,” a Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the morning of the feast at the aforementioned Holy Trinity Church on the Hill of Zion, presided over by the Elder Sacristan, His Eminence Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, with the co-celebration of Archimandrites Christodoulos and Klaudios, Fr Stephanos, Hierodeacon Dositheos, and Deacon Eustathios, with the choir of students from the Patriarchal School singing, and the teachers, monks, nuns, and other faithful from the city of Jerusalem praying together.
After the Divine Liturgy’s dismissal, the school’s Managing Director, Archimandrite Matthaios, offered a reception to the episcopal entourage and the faithful.
Vespers in the evening and the Divine Liturgy in the morning were celebrated in honour of the Three Hierarchs at the Holy Monastery of Saint Basil the Great in the Old City of Jerusalem, which houses the precious relic of Saint Basil the Great. The Hegumen, Archimandrite Nektarios, conducted the service with Hierodeacon Eulogios. At the end of the Liturgy the Hegumen hosted a reception for the faithful.
