Three Hierarchs Chapel
January 30, 2025
I welcome all of you with the joy of the feast and especially welcome His Grace Bishop Irinej of the Eastern America Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Your Grace is no stranger to Saint Vladimir’s Seminary and we are grateful not only for your concelebration today but also for your love and support of this sacred institution, for your service now as an episcopal member of the Board of Trustees, and for the knowledge and wisdom that you impart to this community.
Fr. Alexander, Dr. Tudorie, students, faculty, staff, families, members of the Board of Trustees, and all you faithful of Three Hierarchs Chapel:
I greet you all with the joy of your chapel’s altar feast. Your three heavenly patrons and intercessors, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, whose memories are united liturgically today, are always united as a bastion and treasury of Orthodox teaching and are ever unified in prayer before the throne of our God, the Trinity in Unity. May we all benefit from the light of their teachings and the power of their supplications.
Though we all share in the common gladness of the present celebration, in particular, I would like to address today’s two newly-ordained clergy.
Deacon John:
Today, you receive the holy diaconate. When we say that we “receive” ordination or “receive” holy orders, this is not merely an expression—it points to a deeper truth. Ordination is a gift from above. It is not something that we earn, but something we are given. And truly, ordination is the proverbial gift that keeps on giving: we receive ordination so that we can share, through our ministry, the abundant gifts of the grace of God.
It is appropriate, then, that the first of the major orders is the diaconate. The very word “diaconate” means “ministry,” and “deacon”—diakonos—means “minister.” Ordination is all about service to God and service to our fellow-man, and the deacon is thus called to be an icon of service. Liturgically, you are called to assist the bishop and presbyters. In the community, you are called, not to take a leading role in preaching, teaching, and pastoral ministry, but to support the higher clergy in whatever way they see fit. But this calling to service is not a burden—once again, it is a gift. After all, our Lord himself is the one who came to serve, and St. Ignatius the God-bearer specifically identifies the diaconal ministry as like that of Christ.
Therefore, it is my prayer that the Lord himself, the suffering Servant who is also the King of kings, strengthen you and your family as you embark upon this most holy path of service to the people of God.
Father Justin:
Today you are called to the presbyterate. You have been called to stand in council around the bishop in the sanctuary, offering up prayers with your fellow presbyters—the eldership of the Christian community—on behalf of all and for all. If we look at the priestly prayers of the liturgy, traditionally read in the quiet of the sanctuary, this theme of intercession comes through time and time again. You now stand at the threshold, like Moses of old, occupying a mediatory role: you offer up the people and their concerns and troubles to God through prayer, and, through the sacraments and other services of the Church, you bring the grace of God down to the people.
This is an exalted, but also frightening, vocation. May he who dwells beyond the heaven of heavens, God Almighty, himself grant you the strength always to intercede on behalf of the flock entrusted to your care, diligently carrying out your service on their behalf, so that you might one day say with the prophet: “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.”
Congratulations, Father, to you and your family, and may God preserve you blameless in your vocation until the end of time, and may he himself be your peace amid the many cares of priestly life.
Once again, I wish all of you a joyous feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs.
Holy hierarchs Basil, Gregory, and John, pray to God for us!
Joyous feast! S prazdnikom!