Translations Magazine - Issue released in October 2018

Editor and translator: Marius-Constantin Popa

TRANSLATIONS

VOLUME3*ISSUERELEASEDINOCTOBER2018

TheHolyTrinity



RELIGION

THE HOLY TRINITY, THE BACKGROUND
AND MODEL OF THE CHURCH

The first day after Pentecost, the day on which the Church was established, is
known as the Feast of the Holy Trinity. The feast was set in the West in the year
1334, as a sign of praise for God for the work of salvation performed on the day of
Pentecost. Orthodox iconography captured artistically the revealed image of the
Holy Trinity.

TheteachingontheHolyTrinityrepresentsthefoundationoftheChristianfaith.
ThismysteryofthedivineBeingexceedshumanjudgement,but,becauseitisre-
vealedtohumansthroughthecareofGod,itisreceivedthroughfaith.Manhas
beenabletoenjoytheeverlastinglovethatrelatesthethreedivinePersons—theFather,
theSonandtheHolySpirit–sincehelivedinheaven.Thesupremeexampleoflifethat
theHolyTrinitysetsusistheprincipleonwhichthecreationoftheentireworldwas
based.Wecanbecomespiritualbybeingperfectonlyifwefollowthisexampleofloveand
emotion.BecausethethirdPersonoftheHolyTrinitywasalsorevealedtohumansonthe
dayofPentecost,theChurchhassetadayofspecialvenerationoftheHolyTrinityaswell.
ThisdayhasbeensetimmediatelyafterthefeastoftheDescentoftheHolySpiritinorder
toshow thathumankindcanbesavedfrom sinthroughtheagencyoftheHolyTrinity,
namelytheoneoftheFatherthroughthedecisionandpromiseofredemption,theSon
throughpassionandresurrection,aswellastheHolySpiritthroughHiscomingonthe
dayofPentecost.

Celebrated since the 12th century. The Church is the icon of the Holy Trinity

ThefeastoftheHolyTrinityisoneofthenewerholidaysthatwereincludedbytheChurch
inthecalendar.Forthefirsttime,theMondaythatfellafterPentecostwasdedicatedto
theHolyTrinityintheWest,inthe12thcentury.Consideredwithinsomewesternmonas-
teriesasaninnovation,thefeastcameintogeneraluseintheWestonlyintheyear1334.
Sincethen,itisaproperfeast,evenifthePentecostarionstillcalledit‘theMondayofthe
HolySpirit’.Ontheotherhand,onthedayofPentecost,liturgicalhymnsexpresstheven-
erationofthethreedivinePersons.Russiancalendars,forexample,calltheSaturdaybe-
forePentecost‘theSaturdayoftheHolyTrinity’,andPentecostrepresents‘theDayofthe
HolyTrinity’.Thesedaysshowtherelationbetweenthetwofeasts.

AftertheDescentoftheHolySpirit,thefirstChristiancommunitywasestablished
andthevisibleChurchcameintobeing.ThisinstitutionwhereChristispresentthrough
theHolySpiritbringstheHolyTrinityonearthinorderhumanstocomeintocommunion

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RELIGION

withit.Therefore,baptism,namelytheactofadmissionintotheChurch,isperformedin
thenameoftheHolyTrinity.Thelifeofthenewly-christenedpersonwillfollow,from
thenon,theexampleoftheHolyTrinity.Itispossibleonlybyparticipatinginthelifeof
theChurchbecausetheChurchrepresentstheenvironmentwheretheHolyTrinityis
presentandactsdirectly.SomebodycanenterintocommunionwiththeHolyTrinity
throughtheicon,theexampleoftheKingdom ofGod,byleadingalifeinperfectlove,
namelythroughtheChurchofChrist.

The veneration and dogma of the Holy Trinity

AnyprayerstartswiththeformulaoftheconfessionoffaithintheHolyTrinity:‘inthe

nameoftheFatherandtheSonandtheHolySpirit’.Inaddition,anyliturgicalserviceof
theHolySevenSacramentsstartswiththeblessingofthepriest:‘BlessedistheKingdom

oftheFatherandtheSonand
theHolySpirit’.Itshowsthat

anyserviceaddressesthefirst
songs of praise to the Holy

Trinity.Theveneration ofthe
HolyTrinityisofmuchgreater

importance than the one
dedicated to saints because

eachdivinePersonisvenerated
as God, while saints are

venerated aspeoplewho have
become perfect. Moreover,

believersmakethesignofthe
Holy Cross and utter the

formulaofconfessionoffaithin
theHolyTrinityinordertocall

thePersonsoftheHolyTrinity
todwellintheirsoulsandmake

them perfect.Theteachingon
the Holy Trinity was not

formulated as far back as
Christianitystarted to exist.If

theOldTestamentincludesonly
severalsymbols of the Holy

Trinity,in theNew Testament
thethreePersonsoftheHoly
The Holy Trinity as three men at the Mamre oak tree Trinityrevealed themselvesas

farbackastheBaptism ofChristintheRiverJordan.Then,ChristconfessedtheFather

frequentlyandpromisedHisApostlesthatHewouldsendtheHolySpiritinordertocarry
onHiswork.Therefore,thefirstChristianconfessionsoffaithfocusedontheteaching

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RELIGION

aboutadivineBeingwhoexistsasthreepersons,buthasasingledivinenature.Inthe
courseoftime,thereappearedheresiesrelatedtothisteachingandconsequentlythere
wasaneedforadogma,aSymboloffaith,thathadtobrieflyformulatethefaithinthe
threePersonsoftheHolyTrinity.ItwasformulatedduringthefirsttwoEcumenical
CouncilsheldinNicaeaandConstantinople,wherethepresentbishopscondemnedthe
heresiesthatopposedtheHolyTrinity,suchasArianism andMacedonianism,andused
Greektermssuchas‘being’,‘hypostasis’,‘person’,‘substance’inordertoformulatethe
HolyTrinitydogma.

‘The Shield of Faith’

IntheprimaryChurch,confessionsoffaithwereshortandfocusedontheteachingabout
theHolyTrinity.WhentheSymbolofFaithwasformulatedinthe4thcentury,inorderto
explain thedogmaoftheHolyTrinitybetter,clergymen resortedtousingdifferent

The Shield of Faith

methods.Thus,SaintAthanasiustheGreatexplainedtheSymbolofFaiththathehad
written,knownastheAthanasianCreedwiththehelpofanextremelysuggestiveimage,
called‘theShieldoftheHolyTrinity’or‘theShieldofFaith’.Thetrianglemadeofthethree
circleswherethenamesofthePersonsoftheHolyTrinitybearstheinscriptions‘Heis

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RELIGION

not’onitssides,whichshow thatthethreedivinePersonscannotbeconfused,butthey
aredifferent.Atthesametime,inthemiddleofthetrianglethereisacirclewherethe
name‘God'iswritten,towhichthethreecirclesthatmentionthenameofthePersonsare
connectedthroughtheinscription‘Heis’,showingthattheFather,theSonandtheHoly
SpiritareaGod.

Other representations of the Persons of the Holy Trinity

TheRevelationoftheNewTestamentissupremeandperfectbecauseitisperformedby
ChristHimself,theincarnatedSonofGod.TheHolyTrinitywasthereforerevealedto
humansasfarback asthe Baptism ofChristin the RiverJordan,then on the

The Baptism of Christ

TransfigurationoftheSaviour,aneventthattookplaceonMountTabor.Theclassicicon
inwhichtheHolyTrinityisrepresentedshowsusthePersonsoftheHolyTrinityasthey
revealedthemselvestohumans.Thus,theSonispaintedwiththeCross,whichshowsits
roleintheworkofSalvation,andtheHolySpiritisdepictedasadove,asHerevealed
HimselfontheBaptism ofChristintheRiverJordan,symbolisingthepeaceandlifethat
HegivestotheChurchthroughHisrays.AlthoughtheFatherdidnotrevealHimself,
iconographypresentsHim sometimesanoldmanwithimperialregaliaandatriangle
aboveHishead.TheseshowthattheFatherisWhoeverbegottheSonbeforeallagesand
from Whom theHolySpiritproceeded.ThisrepresentationoftheFather,however,isnot
canonical,beingnotinaccordancewiththeByzantineHermeneutics.
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RELIGION

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RELIGION
‘The Holy Trinity’, the masterpiece of Andrei Rublev

GodrevealedHimselfasauniquedivineBeingtotheJewishpeople,whowerealways
surroundedbypagan,idolatrousnations.TheTrinityofthePersonswasonlysymbolised
becausetherewasadangerthattheJewswouldnotunderstandtheteachingandwould

The Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius near Moscow, Russia

fallin idolatry.ThefamousTheophanyfrom theMamreoak,wherethepatriarch
Abraham welcomedandfetchedfoodtothreemenwhocametohistent[Genesis18:3],
representsthesymbolicimageoftheHolyTrinityintheOldTestament.Thisimagewas
caughtbytheRussianmonkAndreiRublev(1370-1430)inhisfamousiconoftheHoly
Trinityfrom the‘SaintSergius’Monastery,situatednearMoscow.Restoredtwotimes,in
1906and1918,theiconisregardedastheclimaxofRussianiconography.Theicondepicts
thethreedivinePersonsasangelswithidenticalfaces,eveniftheHolyScripturetellsus
thatthreemenmadetheirappearancebeforeAbraham.Behindthem thereisabuilding
thatcanbeseen,afactthatremindsusoftheirmeetingwithAbraham andthemealthat
theyhad.
REFERENCES
Theoriginalarticlewaspublishedin‘Lumina’newspaperonMonday,28thMay2007.
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