The Feast of Three Hierarchs

On February 11-12, 2007, the seminarians and faculty of Holy Trinity Seminary together with the brotherhood of Holy Trinity Monastery celebrated the feast of the Three Hierarchs, Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, the heavenly protectors of the Seminary. The festive services were presided over by His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary. His Grace, Bishop Peter of Cleveland, alumnus of the Seminary, arrived on Saturday to join the celebration. During the Vigil, as well as during Divine Liturgy large parts of the services were read and chanted in Greek, including the reading of the festive canon, the Epistle and Gospel. Second year seminarian Sergio Silva, a native of Brazil, was tonsured to the rank of reader during the hours. During the Small Entrance at the Liturgy, Metropolitan Laurus awarded Hieromonk Theophylact (ClapperDeWell), Dean of Students, the right to wear the nabedrenik in recognition of his many labors, which include responsibilities as Registrar of the Seminary and bookkeeper. The same ecclesiastical award was presented to hieromonk Dionisy (Dmitrievich), a second year seminarian. Following the Divine Liturgy a moleben was served to the Three Hierarchs.

Following the Divine Liturgy and a meal in the Monastery refectory, the students gathered for the traditional reception in the Seminary graduation hall. Metropolitan Laurus was not able to be present this year, as his presence was required at the headquarters of the ROCOR in New York City. Archimandrite Luke, Dean of Holy Trinity Seminary, opened the reception by thanking Bishop Peter for joining the Seminary community for this feast. Bishop Peter then read Metropolitan Laurus' greeting. Official greetings had been received from Archbishop Hilarion of Australia and New Zealand, Archbishop Evgeny of Vereia, rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, and Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan. Andrei V. Psarev, a Seminary alumnus and currently instructor of Canon Law and Russian Church History at the Seminary, addressed the students, focusing on the history of theological education in pre-revolutionary Russia. Following A. Psarev's talk, Deacon Vladimir Tsurikov, Assistant Dean of the Seminary, presented an account of the Seminary's events over the past year. Among the highlights were a roundtable held in February of 2006 on the talks between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a conference on Metropolitan Antonii Khrapovitskii, held in October 2006, and an accreditation review, which led to a renewal of the Seminary's accreditation for a period of ten years. Fr. Vladimir concluded with announcing this year's recipients of scholarships granted by the Fund for Assistance, the Koulaev Foundation, and the Metropolitan Philaret Fund. The Holy Trinity Seminary Scholarship was granted to fourth year seminarian Sergei Tcac in recognition of his diligence in all aspects of Seminary life.

Special thanks are due above all to Metropolitan Laurus and Bishop Peter for taking time out of their busy schedules to come and pray with the seminarians on their feast day, to A. V. Psarev for his inspiring and instructive talk, to Hieromonk Cyprian (Alexandrou), who led the choir during parts of the service chanting in Greek, and to the students who prepared the reception.