The Feast of the Three Hierarchs

January 30 , 1999

St. Vladimir Seminary
Crestwood, New York

The three hierarchs—Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom—are an integral part of that venerable community of pastors which provide us, and indeed the entire Church, with the basis for understanding and proclaiming the Gospel as a living reality. It is this fundamental reality that distinguishes patristic theology from what is often referred to as school theology. In fact, it was Father Georges Florovsky, former dean of this seminary, who, when speaking about Saint Gregory the Theologian, emphasized that the “main distinctive mark of patristic theology was its existential character. We can affirm the truth of this statement—we can claim this statement as our own—since patristic theology is an evangelical theology rooted in the very worship of the Church.

By celebrating the Feast of the Three Hierarchs we acknowledge that theology—those words proper to God—is a vital aspect of Christian life and Christian ministry. It should come as no surprise to anyone here that one of the great tragedies to befall theology is its removal from the core of Christian life. Theology continues to become a science that is applied outside of the Church. What this means is that theology—particularly patristic theology—is becoming part of a curriculum that has little, if any, interest in drawing people closer to the living God. Consequently, study and research become ends in themselves while those searching and yearning for God are offered a gospel which does not challenge, which does not edify and which does not save.

For the Three Hierarchs theology, or knowledge of God, was a dynamic of love which culminated in union and communion with the tripersonal God. This dynamic emphasized and taught by the past visionaries of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, continues to be the basis of the study and research that takes place in this school. And this dynamic of love must be taught and shared by those who will leave this school as pastors so that our parishes may become more and more communities of divine illumination.

To be a theologian requires a knowledge of the self. The principle know yourself, derived from classical Hellenism, was used by the Three Hierarchs and incorporated into their ascetical and monastic way of life. Thus, the dynamic of love requires self examination. For the Three Hierarchs knowing oneself provided the means for discerning what was true and saving theology from what was false and deprived of life.

To know oneself, to be immersed in the ascetical life, is not optional if theology is to maintain its existential character. To know oneself is an ascetical ordeal that is for all Christians—those living in the world and those living in monastic communities. Only in the ascetical struggle—the battle with the self and with sin—can we discover theology and therefore the knowledge of God as a personal encounter with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The ascetical life liberates theology from being impersonal and solely objective. It liberates theology from having no impact on daily life including interpersonal relationships.

By entering the ascetic arena there emerged for the Three Hierarchs what is referred to as apophatic or negative theology. Here we must emphasize that, unlike those who would use apophatic theology to defend what can be termed as an anti-intellectual movement in the Orthodox Church, negative theology by no means ignored learning. The intellectual formation of the Three Hierarchs attests to this. As an ascetical tool the negative theology of these great pastors recognized the limitations of the senses, of human reason, and of experience itself. Apophatic theology was and must continue to be a way which guides the faithful into the realm of the unutterable. It must continue to guide the human person into that dimension of reality which is not confined by the parameters of time and space.

Rooted in the ascetical life the three Hierarchs recognized worship as the most proper expression of theology. What we are doing in this sacred space is theology of the highest calibre. What we are doing in the celebration of this Eucharist—in the celebration of what Saint John Chrysostom refers to in his anaphora as giving thanks for “endowing us with the kingdom which is to come”—is the irreplaceable source, context and goal of theology. Without liturgical worship—without the celebration of the Kingdom which is to come—the scripture is stifled while the dogma and theology of the Church are reduced to opinion. Thus to use a word employed by Saint Basil in his anaphora, what we do as a Eucharistic community is the antitype—the very manifestation and convergence of history and eschatology in the present. In this Eucharist the words, whether proclaimed aloud or in silence, have their fulfillment in the one high priest presiding at the Eucharist.

Beloved in the Lord, as professors and students of an Orthodox theological school, we are entrusted to convey the existential reality of theology. Like the Holy Hierarchs, we are to draw the faithful and those who are searching into the realm of living theology. In this realm the tripersonal God reigns. In this realm the purpose and goal of human life is offered on behalf of all and for all.

Amen!