The Three Hierarchs and Resilience

The feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, is celebrated in Hellenic communities all over the world as the Feast of Letters.  This is very interesting, especially when we consider the history of Greek Literature, and the hundreds of important authors and literary figures of world renown, such as Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and on down to our own day.

The Three Hierarchs were all highly educated, and knew all the Greek pagan and secular learning of their age.  Yet they found it unfulfilling, and all became not only Christians, but bishops.  Their writings on the Christian faith are extremely important.  It is noteworthy that the patrons of Hellenic letters were all Christian Bishops and Theologians

Besides its religious and cultural meaning this feast has psychological meaning as well. The lives and experiences of these three men show us that this religious and cultural celebration is at the same time a feast of resilience

Today we often hear about “resilience,” the ability to respond to challenging or negative circumstances positively, to not be overwhelmed when faced with tragedy, or disaster, war or violence, sickness or any other type of major difficulty.  Resilience is a major issue and concern at all levels of society, from the personal and psychological, to the social, the economic, the political, etc.

When studying the lives of the hierarchs we see that all of them were faced with and overcame very difficult experiences 

St. John Chrysostom was the Archbishop of Constantinople and is famous for his preaching (Chrysostom means “golden-mouth”). He also was very concerned that Christians should actively follow the teachings of Christ, to pray, attend the services, help the poor, etc. And he was not afraid to speak truth to power. When the Empress was doing things she shouldn’t have done he told her to her face.  For this he was defamed, deposed, and died in exile.

St. Basil is famous for his teaching about monasticism and his social doctrine, that is, his teaching about how society should be organized and how people should treat each other, help each other, etc.  St. Basil organized the first hospital in the history of the world.  But he is also famous for standing up to the emperor, confronting the emperor to his face, and thereby putting himself in personal danger of retribution.

St. Gregory was persecuted by people within the church who wanted to change the faith.  Because St. Gregory was so wise, and they could not win arguments against him, the only thing they could do was send him away as well.  But he continued to write, and his teaching about Christianity is the one we all follow to this day.

All of these men suffered and were persecuted.  What was the reason for their resilience?  The same as for their fame.  It was their faith in Christ and their dedication to the Church.

We see the same resilience in our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through very hard times in Greece.  Many of them lived through the violence of the second world war, then the civil war, then the economic depression which followed, the persecution of the Greeks in Turkey, the invasion of Cyprus, etc.  They travelled half-way around the world, and though they did not have much money or know the language they were able to start a new life here in Canada.  Where did their resilience come from?  From God, from Christ, from their faith, from their community.

What is the source of our resiliency?

The same as that of the Hierarchs: Christ, Church, and community.  That’s why it’s so important that we and our children become active members of the parish, learn about our faith, worship together, receive the holy mysteries frequently, etc...

I recently saw some commercials on TV – parents or grandparents are talking to children about the bad things which will happen to them in high school or university.  Assumption is that this WILL happen.  There are no guarantees, but we can do much to prevent such things from happening.  One of these things is to make sure our children are active members of the Church participating in the spiritual, cultural, and social activities of the community.

Resilience does not just happen, it is cultivated.  Active religious faith and community engagement, as well as a strong personal, cultural, and religious identity contribute to psychological resilience. 

It is good that we wish to give our children the gift of the Greek language.  But the Three Hierarchs show us that in giving them that which is more important, namely Christ, Church, faith, and community, we give them the important gift of resilience as well. 

Fr. Bohdan Hladio
26 January 2025