May 30, 2015

“The oldest icons of the Trinity date from the fifth century and are known as the “Hospitality of Abraham” or “The Old Testament Trinity”. They depict Abraham and Sarah serving the three men (messengers, angels) who at the oaks of Mamre announce that Sarah will bear the son of promise in her old age (Genesis 18:1-15) The Fathers of the Church (Irenaeus of Lyons, Augustine, etc.) saw this as the earliest revealing of the One G*d in Three Persons. In the fifteenth century the Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev removed Abraham and Sarah from the icon to focus on the three angels. This icon has come to be seen as the richest expression of the Church’s teaching regarding the trinity.

The three angels appear in perfect harmony and oneness, yet each remains unique. The oneness of the three angels is expressed first by an invisible circle. This circle extends around the upper parts of their three faces, and around the ears and the outer shoulders of the angels on the left and right and around their hanging robes and their two most extended feet. The harmony and the oneness among them is also expressed in the color blue which makes up a part of each angel’s garments, in that their faces all look the same and gesture toward one another in a circle of love, and in that each holds a staff of equal length, as they are one and equal in authority. Even the central angel who dominates in height, appears equal to the others because of the circular design.

The individuality or personhood of each angel, however, is not lost despite the harmony, unity and oneness. This is seen in that each angel has unique colors that belong to their garments or robes and in the different directions in which they look and the different gestures of their hands. In the order of the Persons of the Trinity in the Apostle’s Creed, from left to right, the angel symbolizing God the Father wears a robe of pale pink, almost with a white glow, with his right hand raised as though blessing the second angel’s mission. Burning with love, the Father gives the Son for the world (John 3:16). The central angel, the Son, in dark purple expressive of kingly majesty looks at the Father submitting to his will. His right hand extends over the chalice placed on the table and the two fingers are expressive of his dual nature: truly G*d and man. The Father also looks toward the third angel symbolizing the Holy Spirit, dressed in a robe of green, expressive of His being the life-giver (Romans 8:2) and of the green of the season of Pentecost in which the faithful are called to grow in sanctification. The Spirit’s right hand is shaped in the form of a descending dove.

Rather than being seen hierarchically, the Trinity is here presented as a perichoresis, an inner dance in which each of The Three Persons form a circle of communal love extending to the world. The action of each person belongs to the Oneness of their unity: G*d the Creator is also G*d the Redeemer and Sanctifier; G*d the Son who is the Redeemer is also the Creator and Sanctifier; and the Holy Spirit who is the Sanctifier is also the Creator and Redeemer.”       “For All The Saints” volume III

Pastor Dave