THE BELGRADE DANCE INSTITUTE CELEBRATED THE GLORY OF THE CHRIST – THE HOLY THREE HIERARCHS
The Feast of the Three Hierarchs is dedicated to three saints and the greatest educators and teachers in the history of Christianity: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Although each of them has its own day of celebration in the month of January, in the 11th century, during the reign of Emperor Alexius Comnenus, their common day of celebration was established. With their life, work, and science, these three Saints marked not only the time in which they lived, but also Christianity itself. The immediate reason why their joint holiday was established was that there were debates among the people as to which of these three Saints was greater. Some exalted Basil because of his purity and courage, others Gregory because of his unattainable depth and height of mind in theology, and others Chrysostom because of his miraculous eloquence and clarity of faith. Because of these claims, they were popularly known as Basilians, Gregorians and Johnites. But by God’s providence, this dispute was resolved for the benefit of the church and for the even greater glory of the three saints.
Bishop Jovan of Euchaita had one vision in a dream, namely: first each of these three saints appeared to him separately in great glory and inexpressible beauty, and then all three together. Then they said to him: “We are one in God, as you can see, and there is nothing contradictory in us… nor is there one or the other among us.” The saints also advised Bishop Jovan to write a joint service for them and to designate a common holiday for them. On the occasion of this wonderful vision, the dispute was resolved by establishing their joint holiday.
The celebration of the Holy Three Hierarchs has a great tradition in all Orthodox countries, and in Greece it even has a national character and is considered a holiday of education and schooling.
