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Our Patron Saints

The Three Holy Hierarchs—Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom—hold profound significance in Christian history, theology, and education. These three Saints, celebrated for their immense contributions to the development of Christian doctrine and pastoral care, shaped the early Church through their theological insights, spiritual leadership, and commitment to social justice.

St. Basil the Great, known for his works on monasticism and his defense of the Nicene Creed, played a vital role in establishing the foundation of Christian monastic life and charity towards the poor. St. Gregory the Theologian, famed for his mastery of rhetoric and theological brilliance, articulated the complexities of the Trinity, leaving behind a theological framework that continues to influence Christian thought. St. John Chrysostom, recognized for his eloquent sermons and commitment to moral integrity, emphasized the need for humility and social responsibility, especially in the treatment of the poor and marginalized. Additionally, St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom gave the Church the structure of the Divine Liturgy, as it is celebrated today, contributing not only to the theological but also to the liturgical richness of Christian worship.

Together, their collective teachings formed a holistic vision of Christianity that integrates theological depth, pastoral care, and social consciousness. Naming a high school after these Three Hierarchs symbolizes an educational commitment to cultivating not only intellectual excellence but also moral integrity, spiritual growth, and a sense of responsibility towards society. Their enduring legacy encourages both educators and students to strive for wisdom, humility, and compassionate service, drawing on the rich liturgical and doctrinal tradition that these Saints established.

He was born in Antioch in the year 347, his father's name being Secundus and his mother's Anthusa.  Studying Greek philosophy, John became disgusted with Hellenic paganism and turned to the Christian faith as the one and all-embracing truth.  John was baptized by Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, and, after that, his parents were also baptized.  After their death, John became a monk and began to live in strict asceticism.  He wrote a book:  'On the Priesthood', after which the holy Apostles John and Peter appeared to him, prophesying for him great service, great grace and also great suffering. 
 
When the time came for him to be ordained priest, an angel of God appeared at the same time to Patriarch Flavian (Meletius' successor) and to John himself.  When the Patriarch ordained him, a shining white dove was seen above John's head.  Renowned for his wisdom, his asceticism and the power of his words, John was a the desire of Emperor Arcadius, chosen as Patriarch of Constantinople.  He governed the Church for six years as Patriarch with unequalled zeal and wisdom, sending missionaries to the pagan Celts and Scythians and purging the Church of simony, deposing many bishops who were given to this vice.  He extended the Church's charitable works, wrote a rite for the Holy Liturgy, put heretics to shame, denounced the Empress Eudoxia, interpreted the Scriptures with his golden mind and tongue and left to the  Church many precious books of sermons. 
 
The people glorified him; the jealous loathed him; the Empress twice had him sent into exile.  He spent three years in exile, and died on Holy Cross Day, September 14, 407, in a place called Comana in Armenia.  the holy Apostles John and Peter again appeared to him a the time of his death, and also the holy martyr Basiliscus, in whose church he received Communion for the last time.  'Glory to God for everything!' were his last words, and with them the sol of Chrysostom the Patriarch entered into Paradise.  Of his relics, the head is preserved in the Church of the Dormition in Moscow, and the body in the Vatican in Rome.
 
From The Prologue from Ochrid, Lives of the Saints and Homilies for Every Day in the Year, Volume 4 by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
St. Basil was born in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, in about 330.  While still unbaptized, he spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and other contemporary secular disciplines.  Among his fellow students were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, later the apostate emperor.  When already of mature years, he was baptized in the Jordan together with his former tutor Evulois.  He was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and died at the age of fifty.
 
A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and zeal for the Faith, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of the Church of God, Basil fully deserved his title "the Great".  In the Office for his Feast, he is referred to as a bee of the Church of Christ, bringing honey to the faithful but stinging those in heresy.  Many of the writings of this Father of the Church have survived - theological, apologetic on asceticism an don the Canons.  There is also the Liturgy that bears his name.  This Liturgy is celebrated ten times in the year:  on January 1, on the Eves of Christmas and the Theophany, on every Sunday in the Great Fast with the exception of Palm Sunday, and on the Thursday and Saturday in Great Week.  
 
St. Basil departed this life peacefully on January 1, 379, and entered into the Kingdom of Christ.
 
From The Prologue from Ochrid, Lives of the Saints and Homilies for Every Day in the Year, Volume 1 by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
 
Born in Nazianzus of a Greek father (who later became a Christian an d a bishop) and a Christian mother, he studied in Athens before his baptism with St. Basil the Great and Julian the Apostate.  He often foretold to Julian that he would be an apostate and a persecutor of the Church, and so it came to pass.  Gregory was especially influenced by his mother, Nonna.  He was baptized when he had completed his studies.  St. Basil consecrated him bishop if Sasima, and the Emperor Theodosius quickly called him to the vacant archiepiscopal throne of Constantinople. 
 
His works were manifold, the best-known being his theological writings, for which he received the title 'the Theologian'.  He is particularly famed for the depth of his Sermons on the Holy Trinity.  He also wrote against the heretic Macednius, who taught wrongly of the Holy Spirit (that the Spirit was a creature of God), and against Apollinarius who taught that Christ did not have a human soul but that His divinity was in place of His soul.  He also wrote against the Emperor Julian the Apostate, his sometime schoolfellow.  In the year 381, when a quarrel broke out in the Council concerning his election as archbishop, he withdrew himself, declaring:  'Those who deprive us of the (archiepiscopal) throne cannot deprive us of God.' 
 
He then left Constantinople and when to Nazianzus, remaining there in retirement, prayer and the writing of instructive books until his death.  And, although he was in weak health all his life, he lived to the age of seventy.  His relics were later taken to Rome, and his head to the Cathedral of the Dormition in Moscow.  He was, and remains, a great and wonderful light of the Orthodox Church, as much for the meekness and purity of his character as for the unsurpassable depth of this mind.  He entered into rest in the Lord in the year 389.  St. Gregory's Feast day is January 25.
 
From The Prologue from Ochrid, Lives of the Saints and Homilies for Every Day in the Year, Volume 1 by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic