TRINITY SUNDAY AND THE SPIRIT OF LOVE

Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In the Anglican tradition, the Creed of Saint Athanasius, part of the Book of Common Prayer, although not often said, is said in certain Church of England churches, particularly those of High Church tendency, only on Trinity Sunday.
Trinity Sunday has the status of a Principal Feast in the Church of England and is one of seven principal feast days in the Episcopal Church.
Thomas Becket (1118-70) was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on the Sunday after Whit Sunday, and his first act was to ordain that the day of his consecration should be held as a new festival in honor of the Holy Trinity. This observance spread from Canterbury throughout the whole of Christendom.
When we were in Greece several years ago we purchased an Icon similar to the one at the beginning of this blog. It's called "The Hospitality of Abraham" and has the Holy Trinity on it. We purchased several Icons on that trip, but this one is one of my favorites. We were in Greece on a pilgrimage with Bishop Marshall and were following in the footsteps of St.Paul. Santorini sits high upon a cliff and as you approach it by sea, it looks like that top of the island is covered with snow. It's magical to arrive there and take a donkey ride up to the top and overlook the ocean down below.

I think that it was probably my very favorite island that we visited, but it's really hard to say as they are all so wonderful and very different from one another. We've made two trips to Greece so far and hope to possibly go again next year. You know that they say that the third time is the charm ;-)

I was first introduced to the Rublev icon of the Trinity, also known as the “Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah,” by a friend who said that her Spiritual Director kept a copy of the icon in his room. For my friend, it was an image of God’s hospitality. “There are three angels sitting at a table,” she said, “but the fourth place, the one towards you, is empty. They are making room for you to come in.” I spoke with my own Spiritual Director about this and he referred me to Henri Nouwen's book, "Praying with Icons". It was then that I better understood the meaning behind the paintings and how they were to be used as a spiritual tool as well as objects of beauty. "Nouwen says, "Icons do not easily reveal themselves. They do not speak immediately to the senses. But with the help of a guide, they can lead us into the inner room of prayer and bring us close to the heart of God."

It has been my personal experience that you do not pray "to" an Icon, but "through" the Icon as a way to communicate with God. I like to compare an Icon to a stained glass window. You must look beyond the window to see what's on the other side. Iconographers begin their paintings with gold first, and then put the colors on top of the gold. The colors are put on in such a manner that the gold shines through. I like to think of the gold as God's Glory and the saints that are usually depicted in Icons are praying with me. This is only my explanation of how I feel, but it helps me a lot.
Since today is Trinity Sunday, we had a guest preacher at St. Alban's. His name is Father Michael Heidt, and he preached an excellent sermon on the Holy Trinity. He explained to us that the main premise and the foundation of the Trinity is based on love. When I returned home after church, I decided to paint. I went out to my studio and came up with my rendition of the Holy Spirit as the angel of love.

The woman in this little painting is wearing a crown of glory and she is surrounded by love. I hope that you like her. I really enjoyed painting her.
XOXO, Pcasso