NEW YORK – On February 4 the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America will host an event celebrating the Feast of the Three Hierarchs, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian, and Saint John Chrysostom, at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan. The celebration is organized by the Office of Greek Education.

In addition to their individual feast days, the three saints, Basil the Great (January 1) Gregory the Theologian (January 25), and St. John Chrysostom (November 13) are commemorated together on January 30 and are known as the Three Holy Hierarchs for their theological and ecclesiastical contributions.

The Three Hierarchs were great men of letters who were not only defenders of Orthodox Christianity, but supporters of Greek learning.

The event will open with a keynote address by Rhode Island State Senator Leonidas P. Raptakis, a Democrat representing District 33 (Coventry, West Greenwich). In 1996 Raptakis became the first Greek-American to be elected State Senator for Rhode Island.

Following the keynote address students from local Greek-American Day Schools will be presenting brief speeches on the Three Hierarchs.

In addition, on this day students who excelled in the 2022 Language Examination in Modern Greek will be presented with the Three Hierarchs Award of Excellence. This has been a lasting tradition that was halted by the pandemic, the last in-person event took place in 2019, but the organizers are extremely excited to continue with this beautiful tradition.

The celebration will conclude with the cutting of the traditional Vasilopita for the teachers, students, and all those in attendance.

The event will take place on Saturday, February 4 at 5 PM EST at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, which is located at 319 East 74th Street in Manhattan.