On Sunday, February 12, 2012, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary celebrated its patronal feast day, the Three Holy Hierarchs St’s Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. The festivities began with divine services officiated by His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Canada followed by a reception for the Monastery and Seminary community, hosted by Holy Trinity Seminary.

In remembrance of the Byzantine legacy of the Three Holy Hierarchs, portions of the service were read in Greek and chanted in Byzantine style, under the direction of Hieromonk Cyprian (Alexandrou), a teacher of New Testament Greek at the seminary.

After the Sunday Divine Liturgy, all gathered in the Seminary hall for a reception. After the troparion to the Three Hierarchs was sung, Archbishop Gabriel, a graduate of HTS(Class of 1984), congratulated the seminarians himself and also relayed words of congratulation from His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, the First Hierarch of the Church Abroad, as well as from His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, both alumni of Holy Trinity Seminary.

Archpriest Vladimir Tsurikov, the curator of the Seminary Library, Archives, and Museum, announced the scholarships for the 2011-2012 Academic year. Twenty seminarians received partial scholarships, which were provided by several sources: The Fund for Assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the Koulaeff Foundation, the Protodeacon Nicholas and Nadia Mokhoff and the Metropolitan Filaret Fund, and Holy Trinity Seminary. Father Vladimir also announced that Metropolitan Hilarion awarded a grammota to three laymen for their generous and continuing support of the Seminary: Konstantin Malofeev, Pavel Novoselov, and Ekaterina Anisimova.

Everyone enjoyed refreshments prepared by the fourth-year students and members of the local community, and listened to several presentations of choral music. First, the Holy Trinity Seminary Choir, led by third-year student Nicholas Kotar, sang selections from their concert to be performed on Sunday, February 19, entitled “Two Roads Diverged at the Wood,” in collaboration with other Orthodox  choirs, including the Eastern American Diocese Youth Choir and the St. Tikhon’s Seminary Mission Choir. Next, a group of students sang Byzantine hymns in Greek and Slavonic.

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