Trinity Sunday, Pentecost: Christians celebrate the Holy Spirit and three persons of God

Holy Trinity stained glass Sunday

An interpretation of the Holy Trinity in stained glass. Photo by Lawrence OP, courtesy of Flickr

SUNDAY, JUNE 12: A culmination of the Nativity, Epiphany, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost, Trinity Sunday is observed by both Eastern and Western Christians today, calling to mind the role that each member of the Holy Trinity—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—plays in Christianity. In the Western Christian church, white banners are draped and vestments shine as a sign of purity, one week following the Pentecost holiday; in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church, Trinity Sunday is observed on the same day as the Sunday of Pentecost.

Did you know? Some Christians may be surprised to learn that the original writers of the New Testament did not use the term “Trinity” as it appears in mainline Christianity today. While the three elements of divinity, God and Christ and Holy Spirit, were a part of the faith from its early years, the famous theologian Tertullian (who lived and wrote in Africa) is widely credited as introducing the first full analysis of the Trinity in the early 3rd century. The doctrine wasn’t formalized among Christian leaders until the fourth century.

For centuries, church leaders argued that the Trinity was honored every Sunday. But, in the 12th century, Thomas Becket declared that the day of his consecration should be an annual festival in honor of the Holy Trinity. The observance spread through Western Christianity, and was placed in the general calendar in the 14th century.

There is, perhaps, nothing more central to the creed of the Christian faith—and yet, so elusive, in comprehension of it—than the Holy Trinity. Through the centuries, countless saints have attempted to teach about the Trinity. Among the most famous was a three-leaf clover that tradition says was used by St. Patrick.

CUSTOMS & THE ATHANASIAN CREED

On this one Sunday each year, many Christians around the world recite the Athanasian Creed (read it here). Some bake cloverleaf rolls to reflect the Trinity, or set the table with a centerpiece of triple-leaf flowers. For a Catholic perspective or to read Pope John Paul II’s writings on the Holy Trinity, go to CatholicCulture.com.

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