Feasts and icons
The Holy Trinity
The Holy Trinity (Old Testament Trinity, the Hospitality of Abraham), after St Andrei Rublev
Η Αγία Τριάς (η Φιλοξενία του Αβραάμ) · Свѧта́ѧ Тро́ица · Святая Троица (Троица Ветхозаветная) преподобного Андрея Рублёва
The Holy Trinity is remembered on Pentecost (Holy Trinity Sunday). Before the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christians pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, into one's soul, unity and love in the family, after the image of the Three Persons at one table and peace and concord between people.
Feast days
- Feast
- Pentecost / Holy Trinity Sunday
- Kept on
- Pentecost (Holy Trinity Sunday)
- Next
- Feast
- Day of the Holy Spirit (Monday after Pentecost)
- Kept on
- the Monday of the Holy Spirit
- Next
- Feast
- Repose of St Sergius of Radonezh, for whom the icon was painted
- Kept on
- 25 September (8 October on the Old Calendar)
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar is kept by the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts; the Old Calendar by the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos, 13 days later on the civil calendar.
About The Holy Trinity
St Andrei Rublev's Holy Trinity is the most celebrated icon of Russia. It shows the three angels who visited Abraham at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18), seated around a table with a chalice, an image the Church reads as the One God in Three Persons, sitting in perfect love. By tradition, Abbot Nikon of Radonezh commissioned it in praise of his spiritual father, St Sergius, who had dedicated his monastery to the Holy Trinity, and in 1551 the Stoglav Council named it the model for all icons of the Trinity. Orthodox Christians keep the feast of Pentecost as Trinity Sunday, decorating churches and homes with green branches. Before this icon they pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for love and unity in the family, and for peace between people, asking that their home might be, like the table at Mamre, a place where God is welcomed.
What the faithful ask before the Holy Trinity
The faithful pray for
- the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, into one's soul
- unity and love in the family, after the image of the Three Persons at one table
- peace and concord between people
- a right understanding of the faith
- a peaceful home and true hospitality
- the help of God at every new beginning, as Russians begin every work 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'
The Holy Trinity protects
- from division and strife
- from hatred, after St Sergius's call to overcome the hateful division of this world by gazing on the Holy Trinity
- the household that keeps the icon in its icon corner
- from false teaching
Miracles
Tradition holds that Abbot Nikon of Radonezh asked Andrei Rublev to paint the Trinity 'in praise of his father Sergius,' for the Trinity monastery St Sergius founded.
The Stoglav Council of 1551 ruled that the Trinity should be painted 'as Andrei Rublev painted,' making his icon the canonical model.
Where the traditions differ
In Orthodoxy the Sunday of Pentecost is itself Trinity Sunday; Western Trinity Sunday falls a week after Pentecost. The Old Testament Trinity type is especially Russian; Greeks also paint it as the Hospitality of Abraham.
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Questions
When is the feast day of the Holy Trinity?
Pentecost / Holy Trinity Sunday: Pentecost (Holy Trinity Sunday); Day of the Holy Spirit (Monday after Pentecost): the Monday of the Holy Spirit; Repose of St Sergius of Radonezh, for whom the icon was painted: 25 September (8 October on the Old Calendar).
What do Orthodox Christians pray for before the Holy Trinity?
Before the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christians pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, into one's soul, unity and love in the family, after the image of the Three Persons at one table, peace and concord between people, a right understanding of the faith, a peaceful home and true hospitality and the help of God at every new beginning, as Russians begin every work 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'.
What does the Holy Trinity protect from?
The Holy Trinity protects from division and strife, from hatred, after St Sergius's call to overcome the hateful division of this world by gazing on the Holy Trinity, the household that keeps the icon in its icon corner and from false teaching.
Sources
- Википедия: Троица (икона Рублёва) (read 14 October 2026)
- Wikipedia: Trinity Sunday (read 14 October 2026)