UNIMAGINABLE?

I was away in Germany on Trinity Sunday, so my (first) post  on this sublime mystery is a few days late. Last year, I simply reproduced Andrei Rublev's famous icon, made in the monastery of the Trinity and St Sergius between 1408 and 1425, and now preserved in Moscow's Tretiakov Gallery. This year, the admirable French daily La Croix published a very fine commented reproduction of it. I haven't been able to make the arrows work, but the explanation is quite clear.

The three persons are set in a circle (which I've added here), with the central person’s hand as the centre. The circle,  with neither beginning nor end, symbolises eternity and places the three persons within one and the same reality. Their faces are identical (identity of nature of the three Persons of the Trinity) but their clothes are different, though all contain the blue of divinity. The wings emphasise their spiritual nature.

The left-hand person signifies the Father: it is on him that the others’ regard is turned, and they bow to him (he is the origin and principle of all); the colour of his raiment is indeterminate for he is indescribable. Behind him, the house is Abraham's tent, and “the Father’s house”.

The central person is the Son: in the purple, gold-embroidered tunic of Christus Pantocrator, he bows his head as in the Crucifixion icons. He presides over the table, and his hand blesses the cup that contains a lamb’s head: the cup of the New Alliance. The tree behinid him is the Oak of Mamre and also prefigures the Cross.

The right-hand person symbolizes the Holy Spirit: dressed in green (colour of youth), for “he makes all things new”. Behind him, the rock symbolizes his role as Defender: “my rock and my fortress art Thou” (ps.18)

One thing to remember is that these three persons are also the three persons (men? angels?) who visit Abraham and Sarah at Mamre (Genesis 18) and are fed by them. Which brings us back to the extraordinary saying of Jesus that if we will keep his commandments, he and his Father (and, evidently, the Holy Spirit) will come and dwell with us. 

The Trinity is the deepest mystery of Christianity. As one commentator said, it is not just a theological or philosophical concept, but of perfect topicality in the world: I and You and the Holy Spirit that unites us in love, are called to be living icons of God's deepest nature. Vertiginous!