Three hierarchs
| Three hierarchs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 330 (Basil) 349 (John) 329 (Gregory) |
| Deceased | 379 (Basilius) 407 (John) 389 (Gregory) |
| Holiday | January 30th |
| Patron saint | of education |
| Attributes | dressed as bishops with omophorion ; right hand raised to bless; holding a gospel book or scrolls |
The Three Hierarchs ( ancient Greek Οἱ Τρεῖς Ἱεράρχαι , Russian Три Святителя ) of the Christian Orient are the three bishops Basilius the Great , John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian , who in the 4th century in an important section of church history took Christianity out of their congregational narrow brought out and developed into a cosmopolitan and humane religious community, which could have a say in the social and intellectual dialogue of the world. They played a crucial role in the formation of a Christian theology .
All three great doctors of the church are ecumenical saints , venerated in the Christian Orient, in Catholicism and Anglicanism as well as other Christian churches. In the Orthodox Church they are venerated as patrons of educational and cultural institutions. The Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of the Three Hierarchs on January 30th .
Origin of the term
The term hierarch has disappeared from the general German vocabulary today. While it still appears in the Brockhaus edition from 1894, it is no longer listed there today. In the Orthodox Church, however, hierarch refers to an ecclesiastical dignitary who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a certain area. In the Latin Church he corresponds to the Ordinary .
The term The Three Holy Hierarchs goes back to the disputes in Constantinople in the 11th century, which raged over the question of which of the three bishops was the most important. Some claimed that this was Basil because of his example of the Christian and ascetic way of life. Proponents of John Chrysostom countered that the golden age (translated into Greek "Chrysostom") Archbishop of Constantinople was unmatched in both eloquence and the conversion of sinners. A third group insisted that Basil's close friend Gregory the Theologian should be preferred over the other two because of the grandeur, purity and profundity of his homilies and his defense of the faith against Arian heresy . All three hierarchs have their own memorial days in January: Basilius on January 1st, Gregory on January 25th and Chrysostom on January 27th. Orthodox Christianity teaches that in 1084 the Three Hierarchs appeared together in a vision to the Bishop of Euchaita Johannes Mauropous and said that they were equal before God. Therefore, January 30 was as an ecumenical memorial day Saints under the 1100 Byzantine Emperor Alexius I introduced.
See also
Web links
- Ecumenical Calendar of Names: The Three Hierarchs
- The art and its educational value with the three hierarchs
- The Three Holy Hierarchs (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese)
- Synaxis of Doctors of the Church and Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom Orthodox Synaxarion
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Parry; David Melling (editors) (1999). The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity . Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-18966-1 , pp. 491-492