WHITESTONE – The Feast Day of the Three Hierarchs was celebrated all across the globe on January 30 with church services and presentations by the schoolchildren of local Greek communities, including Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Whitestone, NY, among many others. Fr. Dionysios Anagnostopoulos presided over the Divine Liturgy with Protopsalti Antonis Kehagias and church chanter Demetri Michael.

The students of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Day School attended the Divine Liturgy, participated, loudly and clearly, in saying the Our Father in Greek along with all the faithful in attendance, and then later in the presentation celebrating the Three Hierarchs organized by the school. The parishioners, parents, and grandparents smiled proudly as the students sang the Apolitikio of the Three Hierarchs, accompanied by church chanter and music teacher Demetri Michael.

The students of the 1st grade recited a poem about the Three Hierarchs, followed by the Kindergarten students reciting the poem H Daskala (The Teacher). The Bridge Class students recited the wise words of the Three Hierarchs followed by sayings of the ancient Greek philosophers.

Greek teacher Despoina Stamoulaki thanked all those in attendance and noted, “we’re so proud of our students.”

Head of school, Theodore Kusulas also noted how proud everyone is of the students and their achievements, adding that “we’re small, but we’re strong and we perpetuate our Hellenic roots, our Orthodox faith, and American ideals.”

The Feast of the Three Hierarchs is celebrated on January 30. Every year, churches, schools, and educational organizations in the community host events highlighting the Greek letters, language, and literature in honor of the work of the three great saints of Orthodoxy, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. The Church Fathers were great men of letters, defenders of Orthodox Christianity, and supporters of Greek learning. The Feast of the Three Hierarchs is therefore combined with the celebration of Greek Letters in the many Greek Orthodox parishes.