Joyous feast!
Today we celebrate three of the great fathers and teachers of the Church: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. The works of these three saints have inspired, formed, and guided Christians for over a millennium and a half. This feast thus serves to remind us that the Fathers are not merely to be read by academics and churchmen; the works of the Fathers, like the Scriptures, can be a source of spiritual nourishment for all. This does not, of course, mean that every patristic work is accessible and suitable to every reader. Neither does it mean we all have the same gifts or authority to interpret the Fathers. Nevertheless, all of us are invited to read the Church Fathers, not searching out novel doctrines or historical trivia, but seeking wisdom to sustain us in our daily Christian podvig.