Trinity Sunday – Oneness and Threeness
Trinity Sunday is also called the Feast of the Holy Trinity, it is celebrated on the first Sunday following Pentecost (the 50th day after Easter)/ Whitsunday. On Trinity Sunday we proclaim the mystery of our faith in the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One-in-Three and Three-in-One. It teaches us that there are three distinct Persons in one God, sharing the same Divine Nature. Orthodox Churches have no specific recognition of Trinity Sunday.
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, however, in Eastern Christianity, there is no specific day set aside to celebrate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. In looking at the chronology of holy days, it’s interesting that Pentecost is always followed by Holy Trinity Sunday. The Eastern Churches point out that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday.
In 2024 Trinity Sunday will be celebrated on Sunday, May 26th.
Trinity Sunday History
The origins of this feast lie in a custom in medieval monasteries to pray special prayers in honor of the Trinity on the Sunday after Pentecost, as an antidote to heresy. The celebration of Trinity Sunday began among Western Christians in the 10th century and developed slowly until it was formally established on the Sunday after Pentecost by Pope John XXII (1316-1334).
In 1334 Pope John XXII officially established the feast for universal observance in the Western Church, the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been the pulse of the Church’s life since the very beginning. The whole of the Church’s life flows from the central belief that the one true God exists as three divine Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is about relationship, unity, and love. Indeed, it is the unceasing love of the Father and the Son that generates the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit for all eternity. The Trinity is a model for us, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.
Fifty days after the liberation given to the entire human family through the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit was sent and ratified the new and everlasting covenant between God and humanity in Jesus Christ. Among many other truths, this action shows us that the God who ransoms is also the God who seeks fellowship. And there is a link between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday.
The Trinity is central to our faith.
The Trinity is not just an irrelevant theoretical belief. If God is not a Trinity, Jesus and the Spirit should not be worshipped. If God is not a Trinity, then Jesus is not God, and it follows that God did not come down to save us himself. The Trinity affirms both oneness and threeness: one God, three Persons.
God is one and in a different sense He is three
The doctrine of the Trinity underlies all major Christian feasts, including Christmas, the Epiphany, Good Friday, Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost. All the official prayers of the Church, including the Holy Mass and the Sacraments, begin with an address to the Holy Trinity: “In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
- The doctrine of the Trinity affirms the triunity of God.
- The doctrine of the Trinity is not a contradiction: God is one in essence and three in person.
- The Bible affirms both the oneness of God and the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- The Trinity is distinguished by the work assumed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- The doctrine of the Trinity sets the limits of human speculation about the nature of God.
What do people do?
On this day Many Churches organized special prayers on Trinity Sunday and focused on Christian growth and discipleship after a long period of emphasis on the life and ministry of Jesus. On this day Christians feast and rejoice with family and friends. Trinity Sunday, in its essence, celebrates the mystery of faith and unity on and of the Holy Trinity.
We praise the God who has revealed Himself as a Trinity, a communion of persons.
God the Father, God the Father
God the Son, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit,
Three in One, Three in One.
