The Triune God remains a Mystery, inaccessible to understanding, but cognizable only by the loving soul of a Christian. This is how it was under the Apostles, their disciples, and this is how many feel now, turning their prayer to the Holy Trinity.
Iconography: Hospitality of Abraham (Old Testament Trinity). Dating: XV century. Origin: Trinity Church in the village of Divnaya Gora, Uglich district, Yaroslavl region. The church was the main temple of the Trinity Divnogorsk Hermitage, founded by the Rostov Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich in 1674. Material: wood, gesso, tempera. Dimensions of the icon: height 116 cm, width 145 cm. Three angels are seated on the sides of the throne table, on which three bowls are installed, the central one is larger than the side ones. The figure and head of the middle angel in a slight turn to the left, towards the right angel, he blesses the cup on the table, in his left hand there is a measure. KP 106. © Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev. Literature: Museum of Ancient Russian Art named after Andrei Rublev. A.A. Saltykov. Leningrad.1989. Catalog. No. 101-102
Prayer to the Holy Life-Giving Trinity
To the Most Holy Trinity, Consubstantial Power, all the good Wine that we will repay to You for everything that You have repaid to us, sinners and unworthy, before we were born, for everything that You have repaid to us. all the days and what you have prepared for all of us in the future the future? It is more appropriate to thank You for so much good deeds and generosity, not just words, but more than deeds, keeping and fulfilling Your commandments: but we, by our passions and evil customs, have been cast outwardly into countless ones from our youth. We hide sins and iniquities. For this reason, since we are unclean and defiled, not just before Your three-bright Face appear shamelessly, but below Your Most Holy Name, speak more appropriately for us, even if You Yourself had not deigned for the consolation of I want to proclaim that the pure and righteous are loving, and sinners who repent are merciful and kind accept. Look down, O Divine Trinity, from the height of Your Holy Glory upon us, many sinners, and accept our good will instead of good deeds, and give us the spirit of true repentance, so that we may hate all sin in purity and truly we will live until the end of our days, creating the most holy Thy will and glorifying Thy sweetest and most magnificent name with pure thoughts and good deeds. Amen.
When will Trinity be in Russia in 2022?
What day after Easter is Trinity?
Great Easter falls on different dates every year, and Trinity comes 50 days after it, so its date is also changeable. It is worth noting that this holiday, like Easter, always falls on Sunday.
Just count forward 49 days from Easter. Since Great Sunday of Christ in 2022 will be on April 24, that means Trinity will be on June 12.
What is celebrated on this day
Orthodox Christians celebrate Trinity for three days. Moreover, on Sunday the main event is Pentecost, and on Monday – Spiritual Day, which personifies the essence of the celebration of the Trinity.
Who's celebrating
For Orthodox Christians, the holidays of Trinity and Pentecost fall on the same day, while for Catholics and Lutherans they fall on different dates. They celebrate Trinity a week after Pentecost.
Canon, Mitrofanovo's creation, voice 1
Song 1
Irmos: Your, Immortal, victorious right hand / was glorified by divine power: / for she, like the omnipotent, broke her opponents, / and paved / for the Israelites a new path through the depths.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
The seraphim, without ceasing, glorify / the One Trihypostatic Beginning / - the beginningless, eternal, who created everything, the incomprehensible: / Every tongue glorifies Him with faith / with hymns.
In order to reveal to people Your one, / Divinity shining with the Triple Light, / You, having created man in the beginning, / created him in Your image, / bestowing mind, and word, and spirit on him as a Lover of Mankind.
Glory: Manifesting from above the one power / in the Three Divine Persons, / You, Father, spoke to Your equal Son and Spirit: / “Let us go down and confuse their languages.”
And now: the unborn Father / was foreshadowed figuratively by the wise as the Mind, / the Son, one with Him by nature, - as the Word without origin, / and as the Holy Spirit - who accomplished the incarnation / of the Word in the womb of the Virgin.
Song 3
Irmos: The One Who Knows the weakness of the nature of mortals, / and out of compassion accepted his image! / Gird me from above with strength to cry out to You: / “Holy is the animated temple / of Your most pure glory, O Lover of Mankind!”
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
When in ancient times You / clearly appeared to Abraham in three Persons / and one in the nature of the Divine, / figuratively showed the purest theology; / and we glorify You with faith, / the only God and the three-solar One.
From You, Who was born in an image worthy of God, / not according to corruptible laws, Father, shone / as Light from Light - the unchangeable Son, / and the Divine Spirit as Light came forth, / and we worship the radiance of the one Divinity of the three Hypostases / with faith and glorify.
Glory: The Unity-Trinity is supernaturally / inexpressibly, beyond comprehension, / glorified by rational Beings, / in the trisagion exclamations, never ceasing to proclaim praise; / the Trinitarian Lord also harmonizes with them.
And now: From You without a seed came / in time the Supertemporal One, / the Invisible One who became like us, / and taught the unity of Nature and dominion / the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, Mother of God; / therefore we praise You.
Lord, have mercy, three times.
Sedalen, voice 1. Similar to “Thy Sepulcher, O Savior:”
Let us all bow to the Father and the Son, / and to the rightful Spirit and equal to them in honor; / glory to the uncreated Trinity and super-divine Power, / Which the Ethereal regiments glorify; / This day we, who were born on earth, / will praise her with fear.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: Guide us on the path of repentance / who always deviate towards the pathless paths of evil / and who anger the most good Lord, / who has not known marriage, blessed Mary, / a refuge for desperate people, / God’s abode.
Song 4
Irmos: Habakkuk, seeing You as a mountain, overshadowed by Divine grace, / predicted with discerning eyes, that from You would come the Holy One of Israel / for our salvation and renewal.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
Illuminate me, Trisolar Divine Power, / with the radiances of Your God-creating illuminations, / so that the beauty / of Your God-originating brilliance, which exceeds the mind, / and light-giving and sweet communion with You, appears to the eyes of the heart.
First, You established the heavens, O Lord, / and all their Hosts with Your all-creative Word, / and the Spirit of Your mouth, united with You by nature: / with Them You rule over everything / in the tri-luminous autocracy of the Divine.
Glory: Since You created me in Your image and likeness, / God-originating (and) all-creative Trinity, / unmerged Unity, / enlighten me, enlighten me to the fulfillment of Your holy will, / good in strength and perfect.
And now: You, Most Pure One, gave birth to One of the Trinity / - the Most Divine Son, / incarnated for our sake from You, / illuminating those born on earth / the Trisolar Deity with unfading light and radiance.
Song 5
Irmos: Who illuminated the brilliance of Your coming Christ, / and who cleansed the ends of the world with Your Cross! / With the light of Your knowledge of God, enlighten the hearts / of those who sing Orthodox praises of You.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
Build the first angels / with Thy unapproachable beauty rays / illuminating without any mediation, the most sovereign Trinity, / with Thy radiances enlighten / those who praise You Orthodoxy.
Now the one nature, / to which You gave existence out of goodness, / sings Your praises, Trisolar Divine Power, / asking for deliverance from sins, / and from temptations, and troubles and sorrows.
Glory: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, / one nature and Divinity / we glorify with faith: / separated, but indivisible / - one God and invisible and visible creation.
And now: All the sayings of the prophets have been described in advance, / the birth from You, Most Pure One, of Christ, / ineffable and inexplicable, / which we have come to know, / introducing us into the mystery of the only and three-solar Deity.
Song 6
Irmos: The deepest abyss has engulfed us, there is no deliverer: / they considered us to be slain sheep. / Save Your people, our God; / for You are the strength of the weak and the correction.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
As having equal power, / the Trinity is super-essential, / in the identity of the will You are / a simple and indivisible Unit; / So, by Your power / You save us. (2)
Glory: Thou, by Thy will, created all ages, / as a good one, from non-existence, / the incomprehensible Trinity, / then created man; / but even now deliver me from all misfortune.
And now: You have become the home of the never-setting Sun, / who created and placed in your order / the great luminaries omnipotently, / the Most Pure Virgin, God’s Bride; / but even now deliver me from the passions of darkness.
Lord, have mercy, three times. Glory, and now:
Sedalen, voice 1. Similar to: “Thy Sepulcher, O Savior:”
To the revered and indivisible Nature of the Trinity, / in three Persons, dissected without dissection / and remaining inseparable by the nature of the Divinity, / let us bow down, born on earth with fear, / and glorify the most good God as Creator and Ruler.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: Guide, Pure, my unfortunate soul, / and have pity, for the sake of many sins, / over it, which has slipped into the depths of destruction, All-Immaculate; / and in the terrible hour of death You save me / from accusing demons and all punishment.
Song 7
Irmos: We, the faithful, recognize you, Mother of God, as a spiritual furnace; / for just as the exalted One saved three youths, / so the whole of me, man, was renewed in Your womb / by the praised God of the fathers and the most glorified.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
The Word of God, the one radiance by nature / of the Almighty God! / As You promised, create the divine universe from You, / as a merciful One, with Your Father and the Spirit, / and show me terrible for demons and passions. (2)
Glory: To show us Your, Lord, the abyss of mercy, / By sending Your Son to us, humiliated, / You again renewed in us the original brilliance; / but even now enlighten me / with the Divine Spirit.
And now: Carried on the throne of the Cherubim and the King of all, / the Most Pure One dwells in Your virgin womb, / delivering everyone from destruction, as a Lover of mankind; / but even now preserve me through Your intercessions.
Song 8
Irmos: The image of a supernatural miracle / was shown in ancient times by a fiery furnace full of dew: for the fire did not scorch the young youths, / revealing the divine birth without seed from the Virgin. / Therefore, in songs we will sing: / “May the Lord bless all creation / and exalt it to all ages!”*
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
With a divine gesture, O Lord of all, / Trinitarian and Almighty, / You have spread out the heavens like a covering of skin; / then I hung the depths of the earth / with Your omnipotent hand. / Therefore, strengthen Your servants / with love and faith in You, Lover of Mankind, / so that we, lusting for You, glorify forever. (2)
Glory: Enlighten with the Divine Light / those who sing Your praises, / Light, trisolar in Face, / but at the same time unique in Nature, / and enable me to always look to Your light-giving rays, / through which I will be satisfied with Your glory, sweet, / and light-giving, and all-blessed, / and I will extol You with faith forever.
And now: He ascended into heaven human nature, / Your Son, the Most Pure Mother of God, / accepting it without change, / and through an abundance of goodness / delivering it from ancient corruption. / To him we sing in gratitude: / “May the Lord bless all creation / and exalt it to all ages!”
Song 9
Irmos: The image of the pure birth of Christ by You / represented a thorn bush that burned without burning; / and now we pray to You to quench / the furnace of temptations raging against us, / so that we, Mother of God, / may continually magnify You.
Chorus: Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee.
Save, O Savior of all creation, / comprehended by both sense and mind, / the Most Holy Trinity, consubstantial, / Your servants from the enemy’s cunning and harm / and always preserve Your flock from the snares. (2)
Glory: To show the boundless depth / by the nature of Your inherent goodness, / You gave us promises, Trisolar / and the only omnipotent God, / saving for Your servants; / be pleased to fulfill them.
And now: Answer our prayers, / one true God, / comprehended by faith as One in the Three Divine Persons, / and give consolation to Your servants / through the intercessions of the Most Pure and All-Praised Mother of God.
Signs and beliefs for Trinity
According to popular beliefs, birch branches have great power and personify the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit. Bless a small bunch of birch branches at the service or take away those branches that were used as church decoration. Keep them at home near the icon until the next Trinity Sunday and they will protect you and your home from misfortune and evil.
- Swimming in the river on Trinity Sunday and the week before it was considered dangerous, since an evil spirit could take the form of a merman or a mermaid.
- On this day, medicinal herbs are saturated with unique healing power, so herbalists went in search of “magic” roots and plants.
- Crying during a church service or shedding tears on the grass will lead to wealth and a bountiful harvest. And the precipitation that fell on Trinity Day will contribute to a good mushroom harvest in the fall.
- The search for treasure in the earth will certainly end successfully, since on Trinity Sunday the earth generously rewards a person with wealth.
It is not without reason that Trinity is among the most important and significant celebrations of Christians. This day reminds us that we are not alone in the world, that God protects us, saves us and is always ready to help. On holiday, be sure to go to church or read a prayer at home in front of the icon. Celebrate with your family or loved ones.
Almighty and Life-giving Holy Trinity...
Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity. Creation of Mark the monk
The Almighty and Life-giving Holy Trinity and the source of light, even every worldly and most peaceful creature, for one goodness from those who do not exist, brought, and provided for and supported. According to your other unspeakable good deeds for the earthly race, and granting repentance to us for the sake of carnal infirmity until death: do not leave us, accursed in our evil deeds, to die, lower than the evildoer and dependent It is a mockery for the destroyer and the destroyer. See, O Lord of Kindness, if he slanders us and enmity, it is our passion, weakness, and negligence. But do Thy inexhaustible goodness upon us, we pray, for every day and hour that angers Thy honest and life-giving commandments by crime. And all that has passed in our life, and until this hour, that we have sinned, in deeds, or in words, or in thoughts, forgive and forgive. Grant us the grace to end the rest of our lives in repentance, tenderness, and observance of Your holy commandments. If you have been deceived by sweetness, have sinned in many ways, or have been seduced by vile, unprofitable and harmful lusts; if you have been moved by anger and speechless rage, who will you then we will embrace our insult, or in the language of inevitable and obstinate and strong networks: if we embrace our feelings, or with all of them, willy-nilly or unwillingly , knowing or not knowing, from admiration or teaching we crept madly: if we defile our conscience with evil thoughts and vain things: or if we have committed sins in some other way, from enterprise and custom of tormenting evil: forgive us, and leave everything to the All-Bountiful, Most Blessed and Most Merciful: and Grant us other courage and strength to do Your will, which is good and pleasing and perfect: let the nightly and gloomy evil be replaced by luminous repentance, and as one who walks well in the days , and purified by Your love for mankind we will declare ourselves unworthy, praising You and magnifying You forever, Amen.
What you can do on Trinity and what is prohibited
Like other Orthodox holidays, Trinity is celebrated in compliance with certain rules and prohibitions.
Visit the cemetery
Trinity is a bright, life-giving event, so visiting the cemetery is not advisable. It is better to pray for your deceased loved ones in church and visit the cemetery in advance on Saturday or after the holiday on Wednesday.
Is it possible to get married or have a wedding?
As the proverb says: “Woo on Trinity, marry on Intercession.” Its meaning reveals the essence of the issue in the best possible way. If you get a bride at this time, your family life will be prosperous and happy.
But you cannot get married on Trinity Sunday, since the church does not conduct wedding ceremonies on major holidays.
Is it possible to remember for 40 days?
First of all, submit a note to the church so that the deceased relative is remembered at the liturgy on this very day. Memorial services and lithiums are not held on holidays, so postpone your trip to the cemetery for several days (not earlier than Wednesday). It is also better to postpone the funeral dinner to another day. Remember the deceased with loved ones and through prayer.
Work
If this is a professional necessity, the work is welcome, since this is the earthly duty of any person. Don't forget to visit the church and pray.
It is not advisable to work in the garden or at home, especially if it is some kind of large-scale action (a trip to the country, repairs, general cleaning). Small and most necessary chores around the house are not prohibited.
Kneeling prayers
Read on Trinity Day
First Prayer : Most pure, undefiled, beginningless, invisible, incomprehensible, unsearchable, unfailing, invincible, innumerable, gentle Lord, who alone has immortality, in the living unapproachable light: having created heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything created on them, first ask, Give petitions to everyone, we pray to you, and we ask you, Lord, Lover of Mankind, Father of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, for us for the sake of men, and for our salvation, who came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Ever-Virgin Mary, and the Most Glorious Mother of God: First of all, teaching words, and then showing deeds, having always endured a saving passion, give us the signature, as Thy humble, sinful, and unworthy servants, to bring prayers to You, on our knees and knees, about our sins, and about human ignorance.
You yourself are much merciful and loving of mankind, hear us, even more often on this fiftieth day, after the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, and the sitting at your right hand of God and the Father, who sent down the Holy Spirit on His holy disciples and apostles, and sat upon one of them, and was filled with all His inexhaustible grace, and spoke in other tongues Your greatness, and prophesied.
Now, as we pray to You, hear us, and remember us, the humble and condemned, and return the captivity of our souls, having Your mercy prayed for us. Receive us who fall to You and cry out: we have sinned, we have been committed to You from the womb, from the womb of our mother, You are our God. But as if our days had disappeared in the vanity, we were exposed to Your help, deprived of any answer, but boldly in Your bounty, we call: do not remember the sins of our youth and ignorance, and cleanse us from our secrets, and do not reject us during old age, when our strength becomes impoverished. ours: do not leave us, before we can even return to the earth, grant us worthy to return to You, and grant us favor and grace.
Measure our iniquities with Your bounties, set the abyss of Your bounties against the multitude of our sins. Look down from Thy holy height, O Lord, upon Thy people who are coming, and upon those who expect rich mercies from Thee. Visit us with Thy goodness, deliver us from the violence of the devil: establish our life with Thy holy and sacred laws. Assign a faithful guardian angel to Your people, gather everyone into Your Kingdom. Grant forgiveness to those who trust in You: forgive them and our sins. Cleanse us through the action of Your Holy Spirit: destroy the machinations of the enemy even against us.
Blessed are You, Lord, Master Almighty, who enlightened the day with the light of the sun, and who illuminated the night with fiery dawns, who made us worthy to pass on the length of the day, and to draw near with the firstfruits of the night: hear our prayers, and all Your people, and forgive us all our voluntary and involuntary sins. Accept our evening prayers, and send down a multitude of Thy mercy and Thy bounty upon Thy property. Shade us with Thy holy angels, arm us with the weapons of Thy truth, protect us with Thy truth, protect us with Thy power, deliver us from every situation, every opposing slander. Grant us the present evening, with the coming night, perfect, holy, peaceful, sinless, without temptation, dreamless, and all the days of our life: through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God, and all the saints from the ages who have pleased You.
Second prayer Lord Jesus Christ our God, Thy peace given by man, and the gift of the Most Holy Spirit, still in life and with us, forever grant as an inalienable inheritance to the faithful: most manifestly this grace was sent down by Thy disciple and apostle today, and established these tongues with fiery lips : in the image of the entire human race the knowledge of God has received into the hearing of the ear with our tongue, enlightened by the light of the Spirit, and the charms like darkness have changed, and the sensual and fiery tongue of dispensation, and the supernatural action, having learned faith in You, and to theologize You with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in one Godhead, and strength, and power, we will be illuminated.
You are the Father’s radiance, the essence and nature of His unchangeable and immovable Inscription, the Source of wisdom and grace: open my sinner’s mouth, and teach me what is worthy, and for their needs to pray: You know many of my sins, many, but Your compassion the immeasurable will overcome these. Behold, with fear I stand before You, into the abyss of Your mercy the despair of my soul has been plunged: feed my belly with the word of ineffable wisdom, rule all creation with power, a quiet refuge for the overwhelmed, and tell me the way, I will go elsewhere.
Give the Spirit of Thy wisdom to my thoughts, grant the Spirit of reason to my madness, grant the Spirit of Thy fear to my autumn deeds, and renew the Right Spirit in my womb, and confirm the desire of my thoughts with the Master Spirit: that I may be guided every day by Thy Good Spirit to do what is useful, that I may be worthy to do the commandments. Yours, and Yours, will always remember the glorious coming, and the tormenting things we have done. And do not despise me with the corruptible temptations of this world, but desire to strengthen the treasures of future perceptions.
Thou art the Master: as if anyone asks for Thy Name, he freely receives from Thy ever-present God and Father. In the same way, I am a sinner at the coming of Your Holy Spirit, I pray for Your goodness, if you have asked, reward me with salvation. To her, Lord, you are rich in every good deed, and the good giver, as you are, give abundantly to what we ask: you are compassionate and merciful, having been a sinless companion of our flesh;
Grant therefore, Lord, to Thy people Thy bounty: hear us from Thy holy heaven: sanctify us with the power of Thy saving right hand: cover us with the shelter of Thy wing, so that we may not despise the work of Thy hand. We sin against You alone, but we serve You alone. We cannot bow down to a foreign god; we cannot stretch our hands lower, O Lord, to another god. Forgive us our sins, and accept our kneeling prayers, extend a helping hand to all of us, accept the prayer of all, like a pleasant incense acceptable before Your most good Kingdom.
Lord Lord, deliver us from every arrow that flies in the days: Deliver us also from every thing that passes in darkness. Accept the evening sacrifice from our hands. Grant us the privilege to pass through the night race without blemish, untested from the evil ones: And deliver us from all confusion and fear that comes to us from the devil. Grant to our souls tenderness, and to our thoughts care, hedgehog on Your terrible and righteous trial trial. Nail our flesh with Thy fear, and kill our souls that exist on earth: And let us be enlightened by sleepy silence, by the sight of Thy destinies. Take away from us every inappropriate dream and harmful lust. Raise us up during prayer
Prayer three Ever-flowing, animal, and enlightening Source, co-essential with the Father, the creative Power, who has beautifully fulfilled all the work for human salvation, O Christ our God, who has broken the bonds of death and broken the rivets of hell, and has trampled many evil spirits. He brought to Himself an immaculate slaughter for us, and gave a most pure Body as a sacrifice, inviolable and impervious to all sin, and by this terrible and inscrutable sacred act He gave us eternal life: He descended into hell, and crushed the eternal faiths, and showed the sunrise to those who sit in darkness: the beginning of evil and caught the deep serpent with God's wise flattery, and bound with chains of darkness in Tartarus and unquenchable fires, and in the darkness of Thy innumerable strength, strengthened with strength, the great Wisdom of the Father, the great helper who appeared to those who are guided, and enlightening those who sit in the darkness and the shadow of death.
You are the ever-present glory, Lord, and the beloved Son of the Most High, ever-present Light from the ever-present Light, Sun of righteousness, hear us praying to You, and give rest to the souls of Your servants, the fathers and our brothers who have fallen before the dead, and other relatives in the flesh, and all yours in the faith, We create a memory of them now, for in You is the power of all, and in Your hand You contain all the ends of the earth. Master Almighty, Father God and Lord of mercy, the mortal and immortal race, and the Creator of all human nature, which is composed, and again resolved, life and death, every stay here, and every change there: measure the years of the living, and set the times of death : bring down to hell and raise up: bind in weakness, and release in strength: build the present needs, and manage the future usefully: cheer the wounded with the mortal sting of the resurrection with hopes.
For He Himself is the Lord of all, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and those who are in the sea far away, Who also on this last and great saving day of Pentecost feast, showed us the mystery of the Holy and consubstantial, and co-essential, and inseparable, and unmerged Trinity, and the influx and coming of Thy Holy and Life-giving Spirit, in the form of fiery tongues poured out on Thy holy apostles, and appointed those evangelists, pious of our faith, and confessors and preachers of the true Theology, showing: And on this all-perfect and saving holiday, purification for prayer, oh Those who are held in hell are worthy to receive, but give us great hope of weakening by the contents of the defilements that I contain, and to receive consolation from You.
Hear us humble ones, and Your servants praying to You, and give rest to the souls of Your servants who have fallen before the dead, in a place of light, in a place of greenery, in a place of coolness: from there shall flee all sickness, sorrow and sighing, and make their spirits rest in the villages of the righteous, and peace and weakness vouchsafe them: for not in the dead will they praise Thee, Lord, but those who exist in hell dare to bring confession to Thee: but we bless Thee alive and pray, and offer purifying prayers and sacrifices to Thee for their souls.
Great and eternal God, Holy, loving of mankind, who has made us worthy at this hour to stand before Thy unapproachable glory, to sing and praise Thy wonders, cleanse us Thy unworthy servants, and grant grace to those with a contrite heart, to offer Thee the Trisagion of praise and the thanksgiving of the great. Your gifts that you have created for us, and always create in us. Lord, remember our weakness, and may you not destroy us through our iniquities: but do us great mercy with our humility, so that having escaped the darkness of sin, we will walk in the days of righteousness, and having been clothed with the weapons of light, we will abide unscathed from all the wiles of the evil one, and with boldness we will glorify all, to You, the only true and Lover of Mankind.
Thine is a truly and great sacrament, Lord of all, and Creator, the temporary solution of Thy creatures, and copulation for now, and rest forever: We confess grace to You for all, for our entrances into this world, and our hopes of resurrection and incorruptible life are gone, with Thy false promise we are betrothed, which we will receive in Thy future second coming. For You are also the Chief of our resurrection, and the unwashed and humane-loving Judge of those who have lived, and the Master and Lord of rewards, Who also shared with us in sincere flesh and blood, condescension for the sake of extremes: and our irresistible passions, sometimes by will to put into temptation, we accept generosity as mercy, and in it You yourself suffered, having been tempted, and being tempted by us, you became a self-promised helper: in the same way, You also brought us into Your dispassion.
Accept therefore, Master, our prayers and supplications, and give rest to all fathers, and mothers, and children, and brethren, and only-begotten sisters, and begotten sisters, and all souls that have previously fallen asleep: in the hope of the resurrection of eternal life, make their spirits, and their names in the book animals, in the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the land of the living, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the sweet paradise, Thy bright angels, leading all into Thy holy abodes, co-raising our bodies in the day that Thou hast determined according to Thy holy and unfaithful promise. For, Lord, there is no death for Thy servant, who comes to us from the body, and who comes to You our God, but repose from the saddest to the most useful, and the sweetest, and to peace and joy.
Even if we have sinned against You, be merciful to us and to those who have not yet been clean from filth before You, even if there is only one day of his life, are You the only one who appeared on earth, our sinless Lord Jesus Christ: in whom we all trust in mercy receive, and remission of sins. For this reason, for our sake, as God is Good and Lover of Mankind, weaken, forgive, forgive our sins, voluntary and involuntary, even in knowledge and not in knowledge, presented and forgotten: even in deed, even in thought, even in word, even in all our lives and movements. And grant to those who have departed freedom and weakness, but bless us who are here, granting a good and peaceful end to us and all Your people, and open the womb of mercy and love for mankind to us, at Your terrible and terrible coming, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom.
Great and Most High God, alone having immortality, in the living, unapproachable light, creating all creation with wisdom, dividing in the midst of light and in the midst of darkness: And having placed the sun in the region of the day, and the moon and stars in the region of the night. Vouchsafed us sinners to precede Thy face in confession on this day, and to offer Thy evening service. O Lord, Lover of Mankind, correct our prayer, as if it were incense before You, and receive into the stench of the fragrance. Grant us the true evening and the peaceful night that comes: clothe us with the weapons of light, deliver us from the fear of the night, and from every thing that passes in darkness. And grant us sleep, which you have granted for the repose of our weakness, changed from every devilish dream. To her is the Lord the giver of all good things, so that on our beds we will remember with tenderness and in the night your most holy name. And with the teaching of Your commandments illuminated, in the joy of our souls we will rise to the praise of Your goodness, bringing prayers and supplications to Your compassion for our sins, and for all Your people: visit them with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos in mercy.
Iconography: Hospitality of Abraham (Old Testament Trinity). Dating: XV century. 1425–1427. Icon painting school or art center: Moscow School. Icon painter: Rublev Andrey. Origin: from the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Material: wood, tempera. Dimensions of the icon: height 141.5 cm, width 114 cm. The scene of the silent communication of three angels is brilliantly revealed by the icon painter in the gestures of their hands - the left angel (God the Father) blesses the sacrificial cup, the middle angel (God the Son) is ready to accept this cup, his hand with the symbolic folding of the fingers is lowered, the pose expresses filial submission to the will of the Father and the readiness to sacrifice oneself, the right angel (God the Holy Spirit), “finishing the conversation,” affirms the high meaning of sacrificial, all-forgiving love. Unlike many compositions of this iconography, only one bowl with the head of a calf is presented on the table; it becomes the semantic center of the work - a symbol of the New Testament sacrificial lamb. The silhouette of the chalice is rhythmically repeated in the lines of the inner contours of the left and right angels, forming a large Eucharistic chalice in which the central angel, Jesus Christ, is placed. Setting of the icon of the Holy Trinity, letter from Andrei Rublev. Inv. No. 13012. © State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Literature: Iconography from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. M., 2008. pp. 114-115
Events of Pentecost
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Christ on the day of Pentecost is described in one of the books of the New Testament - the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
The event took place ten days after the Ascension of Christ, when on the Mount of Olives He ascended into heaven in the flesh. The feast of the Old Testament Pentecost has arrived. The apostles and the Mother of God were on this day in the Zion Upper Room in Jerusalem - the very room where the Last Supper took place. It was there, as it is written in the New Testament, that the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place on the disciples of Christ:
“...suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:2-4).
The miracle did not go unnoticed. Pentecost was a national holiday, and the capital of Israel was flooded with believers. People came from different cities and even neighboring countries. Imagine their amazement when, attracted by the noise, they approached the house where the apostles had gathered and heard that they were speaking in a variety of languages. At first, the people decided that Christ’s disciples were simply drunk: “they said, ‘They are drunk with sweet wine’” (Acts 2:13 ). But the Apostle Peter dispelled these speculations and told people about the meaning of the miracle, that from that day the apostles would preach the Risen Christ to the whole world:
“Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and cried to them: Men of Judah, and all who dwell in Jerusalem! Let this be known to you, and listen to my words: they are not drunk, as you think, for it is now the third hour of the day; but this is what was foretold by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. And on My servants and on My handmaids in those days I will pour out My Spirit, and they will prophesy.” (Dejan 2:14-18)
What do believers pray for when turning to the Triune God?
According to the words of the Lord Himself, “your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8).
What should we pray to the Father, the omniscient God? The so-called “usual beginning” of any divine service, even the home prayer rule, is the most ancient, known, as the Russian liturgist M.M. Skaballanovich suggested, perhaps since apostolic times, part of the divine service.
“Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
Lord, cleanse our sins.
Master, forgive our iniquities.
Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy Name’s sake.”
This prayer to the Holy Trinity, repeated many times a day, contains all the requests of a person living among the bustle of the world - be merciful, help us cleanse ourselves, forgive our mistakes, heal our infirmities. This is “the search for the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), when everything else - useful to man - will be added without unnecessary verbosity.
An even shorter prayer was performed by St. Ioannikis the Great, who lived in the 8th century. Having left the world for the desert, he remained in solitude and fasting. Reading the Psalms, he repeated after each verse: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit.” Now this prayer - words of hope and absolute trust in the Creator - has become part of the evening prayer rule.
A Christian asks the Lord for blessings for the coming day every morning, also reading a prayer to the Triune, thanking for the past night, begging God to help him live a day without sin.
There are, however, moments of worship when the Creator is addressed with special words and lengthy prayers.
About prayers read on Pentecost in the temple
One of these moments is Trinity Day, the 50th after the main holiday - Easter.
Distinction of Divine Persons by Hypostatic Properties
It is known that God created man in his own image, therefore, the difference between the Divine Persons can be imagined by drawing an analogy with the human mind.
- The Father is the mind that gives birth to all things. He created heaven, earth and man.
- The Son is a thought emanating from the mind. The image of Jesus Christ, who saved humanity at the cost of his life.
- The Holy Spirit is the voice, the expression of thought. The personification of God's power. He is always near us. This is the Comforter to whom we, ordinary people, can always turn with a request or ask for forgiveness for sins through prayer.
The essence of the Trinity is that the Creator has three faces, three expressions.
