From pastor’s desk on the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2022
If you like religious art, I would like to invite you to contemplate the Byzantine icons. The religious icons in the Byzantine tradition are not just an art or painting to be hung on a wall. Each icon always contains a biblical scene or portrays Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a saint, and is considered a window— “icon”—to heaven. Hence, the veneration of the icons in the Eastern tradition is more than an art in the Western world. All of the Byzantine icons and those later created in the Byzantine tradition, which include Russian, Greek, Ukrainian and other traditions, always have deeper symbolism hidden in them.
One of the most beautiful and theologically loaded Russian Orthodox icons is the one created by a Russian monk and iconographer Blessed Andrei Rublev (born c.1365- died 1430). It is the icon which is on the cover of the bulletin this week. It is Rublev’s symbolic depiction of the “Most Holy Trinity.”
In this exquisite icon Rublev depicted a scene from the book of Genesis, in which three mysterious strangers (angels) come to visit Abraham and Sarah in order to announce to them the birth of their son Isaac. From the beginning the fathers of the Church believed that Abraham’s encounter with the three strangers was an encounter with the Most Holy Trinity. According to the early fathers this was a prefiguration of the revelation that later would take place in Jesus Christ. Here it was the first time when God was revealing God’s Self as the Most Holy Trinity. It is this theme that Andrei Rublev undertook when he decided to paint an icon with three angels.
If you pay close attention the three characters are sitting in a circle in which there is mutual exchange of love, a Divine communication: they are looking and blessings each other; they are on a mission too. You can also see that the items around them come together in a shape of an octagon, which implies a symbolic number “eight,” referring to the eighth day—the day of the Resurrection and a new creation—and to the eight beatitudes. Each angel is holding a rod symbolizing equal authority that pertains to each one of them. None of them is more important than the other, but all three of them share in the same Divine power.
The two figures on each side form a shape of a chalice in which there is sitting the figure in the middle. It is interpreted that the figure in the middle is the Son of God—Jesus Christ—who offers Himself as the lamb of Sacrifice. There is also depicted additionally on the icon with a shape of a little lamb on the plate/chalice in front of the Middle Character. Rublev also put a tree behind this middle same figure, leaving no doubt that it was Jesus Christ, who would hang on the cross for the Salvation of the world. Moreover, the colors of His clothes point to His saving mission too. It is red and blue, signifying His celestial origin and blood that will be shed for others.
The figure on the left is painted with a gesture of blessing the two other figures. Behind him you can also see the shape of a building, which symbolizes the Father’s house referring to Jesus’ words in the Sacred Scripture: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places” (John 14:2). This character can be understood as the representation of God the Father. His clothing also contains blue color symbolizing heaven, but the outer garment is more “mysterious,” the colors are not very explicit. The reason for that is that ultimately God’s nature will remain to us a great mystery; God cannot be comprehended by human mind and senses.
The character on the right obviously represents the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit. The colors of the figure’s clothing consist of blue and green. Again, the blue symbolizes heaven and the green new life as it is seen in nature when everything blooms, like during the spring time. Such is the role of the Holy Spirit who is the source of life and renewal of humanity. In the icon this figure seems to be leaving—His feet are separated as if He was about to go—for the Holy Spirit is on a mission. He is being sent by the Son and the Father “to renew that face of the earth.”
There are many more details and theology behind Rublev’s icon. I recommend that you do more research and reading on it. But most of all, I invite you to pray and contemplate the great mystery of God in the Most Holy Trinity. It is the Mystery of the incomprehensible Love that God wants to share with the human race. Rublev’s icon may only help us to see how wonderful God is and how grateful we should be for the wonder of salvation in Jesus Christ.
May God’s Love permeate your hearts. I wish you all a blessed and peaceful week.
Fr. Janusz Mocarski, pastor