To celebrate the Holy Orthodox Trinity in 2022, or as it is also called Pentecost, Russian Orthodox Christians will 12 Junejust like everyone else around the world. The date of the celebration of the Holy Orthodox Trinity according to the church calendar, June 12, 2022, was not established in vain, but corresponds to Pentecost, that is, the appointment of this holiday for Christians - on the fiftieth day after Great Easter (must be held on Sunday).
It is dedicated to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ, hence another name - Pentecost. But the holiday is called the Holy Trinity because the Lord revealed His Trinity to us, people, by the descent of the Holy Spirit into our world. First, only the disciples of Christ, the apostles, and then all of humanity, all of us, learned the great mystery of the nature of God, which is difficult for our minds to comprehend. That God is One in Three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
What Believers Do on Trinity
Orthodox churches on this day are filled with summer greenery. The floors are covered with freshly cut grass, combined with the scent of incense for an unforgettable scent. Parishioners come to the service with wildflowers, birch branches. Even the color of the vestments of the clergy is green.
Why is the Trinity holiday filled with a green plant theme, which means birch as its symbol?
- Birch is a reminder of the oak forest of Mamvre, where there was an oak (a tree of a different species, but nevertheless), under which God appeared to Abraham under the guise of 3 angels.
- There is also the Jewish, Old Testament Pentecost, dedicated to the procession of the Jews from Egypt. On the 50th day, they came to Mount Sinai, drowning in flowering plants (it was in the spring), where the famous 10 commandments were given to Moses. This is how the custom of decorating churches and houses with greenery took root, as if being transported to Mount Sinai at a fateful moment. And the delicate greenery of birch branches is ideal for this.
- Birch branches with young leaves symbolize the human soul blossoming from the touch of the grace of the Holy Spirit - by analogy with how nature awakens after hibernation.
At the end of the Liturgy (morning service), during which many receive Communion, Trinity Vespers is celebrated with kneeling prayers. Each is a request addressed to the Lord for communion with the grace of the Holy Spirit and admonition - in the same way as the apostles were enlightened. In fact, this is the main prayer for the Trinity.
Regardless of when this year the Trinity, on the day following it, the Day of Spirits is always celebrated - in honor of the glorification of the Holy Spirit.
Feast of the Trinity in Russia and the world
In Russia, the Day of the Holy Trinity has always not only been loved, but also considered to be somehow dear and joyful. Maybe because of the established tradition of decorating churches on this holiday: the floor on Trinity in churches is covered with freshly cut grass, flowers are placed between icons, and even the icons themselves on Trinity are dressed in frames made of birch branches. And the believers stand for the entire service of the feast of the Holy Trinity with birch branches in their hands - they are prepared the day before and brought with them to the church. And the priests to Trinity in green robes. All this jubilant, flourishing decoration in churches is not accidental: after all, on the Day of the Holy Trinity we remember the Gospel event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. The Holy Spirit is the Third Hypostasis of the One and Indivisible God. The Holy Spirit is called the "Giver of life", which means that it is very symbolic that Trinity Day brings the beating of spring and young summer to church severity.
The word "trinity" appeared in Christianity with the light hand of St. Theophilus of Antioch in the distant II century.This is a key term in theology, reflecting the teaching that God is one and at the same time threefold in Persons (hypostases):
- God the Father: has no beginning (not created by anyone, not created, not born of anyone).
- God the Son: born of God the Father.
- God the Holy Spirit: comes from God the Father.
Each of the three Personalities has all the fullness of being and in itself is God, and not 1/3 of it. Moreover, all 3 Personalities are one God. This is such a difficult theological mathematics!
Church teaching excludes the representation of God as three-headed. 3 divine personalities unite, do not exist one outside the other, but they do not merge.
Orthodoxy allows a symbolic representation of this incomprehensible theological category, the generally recognized icon of the Trinity is an image created by the icon painter Andrei Rublev. Here the emphasis is on the equality of 3 figures, differing only in faces and clothes.
Christian Pentecost: Events and Celebration
Almost two thousand years ago, on the day of Jewish Pentecost, the world received the mystery of the Triune God: the Old Testament knew the One God, who laid the foundation of the Old Testament Church; The Son, incarnate on earth, created the Church of the New Testament; The Holy Spirit opened its historical time and acts in it "to the end of the age." Therefore, the holiday of her birth is called the Day of the Holy Trinity.
The theological doctrine of the relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity was finally formulated as early as the 4th century, during the period of fierce Trinitarian disputes caused by the false teaching of Arius of Alexandria, and was enshrined in the Niceo-Constantinople Creed. But not everyone knows that the first churches in the name of the Holy Trinity appeared in the Christian world much later, not earlier than the 12th century, and, at first, in the West (this issue requires special research). Soon, in 1335, the humble monk Sergius built the first wooden Trinity Church in Russia in the middle of the remote Radonezh pine forest, which became the basis of the future Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the center of the spiritual life of Russia.
The feast of Pentecost is preceded by Trinity Parents' Saturday - the day of remembrance of the dead.
On the very day of the feast, after the Liturgy, Vespers is celebrated, during which three prayers are read to the Triune God. At this time, for the first time since Easter, everyone kneels.
For Trinity Day, our churches and houses are decorated with trees, grass and flowers. The custom is associated with the historical recollection of the rites of the Old Testament Pentecost, - the bringing to God of the green first fruits of the harvest, as well as with the Russian folk tradition of seeing off spring and welcoming summer.
The first Monday after Pentecost is called the Day of the Holy Spirit. It is, as it were, a continuation of the feast of the Holy Trinity and is dedicated to a special celebration of Her Third Person. The first week after Pentecost begins on the same day; it is called "solid" because the fast on Wednesday and Friday is canceled. And from Monday of the second week begins Peter's fast.
The appearance of the Three Wanderers to Patriarch Abraham at the oak of Mamri (near Hebron), usually depicted in the form of angels, is understood by Christian theologians as a hidden phenomenon in the Old Testament world of the Holy Trinity. This significant episode in biblical history, which took place almost four millennia ago, gave rise to the remarkable iconographic type of the Old Testament Trinity, the culmination of which was the Trinity icon by the Monk Andrei Rublev.
Catholic Trinity
Catholics approach the question “when will the Trinity be” differently. The celebration of Pentecost and the day of the Holy Trinity itself are divided between them, the second event is celebrated the next Sunday after the first (on the 57th day after Easter).
What not to do on Trinity
The topic of prohibitions is relevant, as is the case with other great church holidays. The priests note that many of them have folk roots, akin to pagan ones. This has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.
- Many are concerned about the question of whether it is possible to work at Trinity. The church answers: if the circumstances are so, it is permissible, the work schedule is often formed by the employer.
If there is a choice, it is worth postponing business and coming to church, attending a service, taking communion - this is what the faithful try to do.
On this day, it is better to refrain from work that does not "burn" (for example, to devote time to gardening, needlework). In doing so, we show our disrespect to God, and such work often does not work.
- Those working on the "5 through 2" schedule are often interested in whether it is possible to clean Trinity at home, because it falls on Sunday - the day on which cleaning is usually planned.
Urgent household chores will not harm a Christian if he remembers God. Whenever possible, believers prepare for a bright holiday in advance - they put it in order, decorate the house, and complete household chores. But the rhythm of life today is such that it is not always possible.
- Another topic for doubts: is it possible to go to the cemetery on Trinity?
The opinion of the clergy is not worth it. This day is filled with a joyful event, and the remembrance of the dead is not entirely appropriate here. It is better to visit the cemetery on the eve of Trinity - on Trinity parental Saturday. - It is generally accepted that you cannot swim for 3 days on Pentecost. Allegedly, this is the time of revelry of mermaids and other evil spirits, which strives to lure the would-be bather to the bottom. Particularly "cautious" extend the ban on showers and swimming pools: apparently, the mermaid activity on Trinity is off scale. From the point of view of the church (and common sense), this prohibition is unfounded. For a believer, it is not logical to replace a trip to the temple for a beach picnic, but you can go to the reservoir after the service.
Read also:
- Public holidays in 2022 in Russia
- Shrovetide in 2022
