Rublev’s Icon of the Trinity
I find Rublev’s icon of the Trinity to be one of the most stunning icons. After reading Henri Nouwen’s description, looking at it is that much richer and more powerful.
“Andrew Rublev painted this icon not only to share the fruits of his own meditation on the mystery of the Holy Trinity but also to offer his fellow monks a way to keep their hearts centered in God while living in the midst of political unrest. The more we look at this holy image with the eyes of faith, the more we come to realize that it is painted not as a lovely decoration for a convent church, nor as a helpful explanation of a difficult doctrine, but as a holy place to enter and stay within. As we place ourselves in front of the icon in prayer, we come to experience a gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation that is taking place among the three divine angels and to join them around the table. The movement from the Father toward the Son and the movement of both Son and Spirit toward the Father become a movement in which the one who prays is lifted up and held secure. . . .
“Through the contemplation of this icon we come to see with our inner eyes that all engagements in this world can bear fruit only when they take place within this divine circle. The words of the psalm, “The sparrow has found its home at last. . . . Happy are those who live in your house” (Ps 84: 3,4) are given new depth and new breadth; they become words revealing the possibility of being in thee world without being of it. We can be involved in struggles for justice and in actions for peace. We can be part of the ambiguities of family and community life. We can study, teach, write and hold a regular job. We can do all of this without ever having to leave the house of love. . . . Rublev’s icon gives us a glimpse of the house of perfect love” -Henri Nouwen
You can read more about the icon’s history here.
by The Cappadocian Fathers and the Holy Trinity « Getting There… 2 steps forward, 1 back
[...] <div Today is the day the Church remembers Basil of Caesarea, who is one-third of the Cappadocian Fathers, the other two being Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa. (The Uniting Church remembers all three on this day; we are nothing if not economical with our Church Year celebrations.) They lived in the fourth century, at a time when the doctrine of the Trinity was still fluid; there were those who minimised the Trinity, and said that God showed different aspects of God’s being to us in Christ and the Holy Spirit; and there were others who split the Godhead, so that the Father alone was properly ‘God’, and that Christ was a created being, and the Holy Spirit some kind of force. The Cappadocians spoke of the Unity of God in the essence of God, and the specific properties of the Father, Son and Spirit were what differentiated them. This is important; otherwise, God did not come to us in Jesus Christ, but a created being; and we do not have God within us in the Holy Spirit, just a force or influence. The icon is not the Cappadocian Fathers! It is the well-known icon of the Holy Trinity painted by the Russian monk Andrei Rublev, around 1410. It portrays the incident in Genesis 18 where three angels came to Abraham and Sarah, and were received with hospitality. It shows the hospitality of God to us, in inviting us to the Table. It has been said that this icon is a kinda ‘proof’ of the Trinity. I kinda agree! I thank the holy triune God for it, and for the Cappadocian Fathers! [...]