The Most Holy Trinity

[Vouthon]

What descriptions of the Most Holy Trinity are you most moved by, or rather, which have the greatest meaning for you?

For mainstream Christians, the Most Holy Trinity is the principal mystery of our divine faith. Recent discussions of the Holy Trinity prompted me to create this thread.

We are called by our baptismal grace and life in Christ to participate in the very life of the Trinity, that Triune God who by the Holy Spirit dwells within the temple of our souls on earth and with Whom in heaven we shall be in union with eternally.

I often find that the mystical writers in the Christian tradition approach a very profound apprehension of this unfathomable mystery.

Consider the words of St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine Abbess:

"...Then I saw a bright light, and in this light the figure of a man the color of a sapphire, which was all blazing with a gentle glowing fire. And that bright light bathed the whole of the glowing fire, and the glowing fire bathed the bright light; and the bright light and the glowing fire poured over the whole human figure, so that the three were one light in one power of potential. And again I heard the living Light, saying to me: ....

Therefore you see a bright light, which without any flaw of illusion, deficiency, or deception designates the Father; and in this light the figure of a man the color of a sapphire, which without any flaw of obstinacy, envy, or iniquity designates the Son, Who was begotten of the Father in Divinity before time began, and then within time was incarnate in the world in Humanity; which is all blazing with a gentle glowing fire, which fire without any flaw of aridity, mortality, or darkness designates the Holy spirit, by Whom the Only-Begotten of God was conceived in the flesh and born of the Virgin within time and poured the true light into the world. And that bright light bathes the whole of the glowing fire, and the glowing fire bathes the bright light; and the bright light and the glowing fire pour over the whole human figure, so that the three are one light in one power of potential. And this means that the Father, Who is Justice, is not without the Son or the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit, Who kindles the hearts of the faithful, is not without the Father or the Son; and the Son, Who is the plenitude of fruition, is not without the Father or the Holy Spirit. They are inseparable in Divine Majesty, for the Father is not without the Son, nor the Son without the Father, nor the Father and the Son without the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit without Them. Thus these three Persons are one God in the one and perfect divinity of majesty, and the unity of Their divinity is unbreakable; the Divinity cannot be rent asunder, for it remains inviolable without change. But the Father is declared through the Son, the Son through Creation, and the Holy Spirit through the Son incarnate. How? It is the Father Who begot the Son before the ages; the Son through Whom all things were made by the Father when creatures were created; and the Holy Spirit Who, in the likeness of a dove, appeared at the baptism of the Son of God before the end of time..."

- Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Doctor of the Church, philosopher, mystic, visionary, artist, poet & theologian

This mandala-like depiction accompanies the above vision by St. Hildegard in the manuscripts, which she either drew herself or which was drawn by another under her direction:

In miniature:

 

[ZooGirl02]

My favorite is the Athanasian Creed which you can find here:

Athanasian Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia