One would be hard-pressed to find another saint whose memory is celebrated as many times per year, as that of Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom. The Golden Mouth has four feast days, on one of which he is honored together with two more ecumenical teachers: Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. The triad of the theologians is lauded by the Church on January 30/February 12.
In our diocese, the only church whose altar is consecrated in honor of Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom is in House Springs, MO. Although the feast of Three Hierarchs is not the main feast of the temple, yet it was here that the faithful of House Springs and of St Basil’s parish in St Louis (whose minor parish feast this also is) gathered to celebrate the feast. The Divine Liturgy was served by Archpriest Sergii Alekseev and Priest Thomas Nichols. As if echoing the number ‘three’ in the name of the feast, three languages resounded in the temple: Church Slavonic, English and Georgian.
After the customary moleben at the end of the Divine Liturgy, Archpriest Sergii congratulated the faithful and especially those who celebrated their Name Day that day. In his word to the faithful he emphasized unity of the three saints, their one-mindedness in defense of the Orthodox Faith, which should encourage us to always seek union in truth and run from divisions which sow discord and, ultimately, alienation from the Church.
May God through, intercessions of Three Holy Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, «strengthen us in Orthodoxy, in oneness of mind, in the unshaken confession of the faith of Christ even unto death, and in obedience to His Holy Church with all our heart». --
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