Divine Persons Passing the Time

Date: 11/16/2009
Holy Trinity by Rublev - Nice try, Spirit, but "Sacred Page" don't beat scissors

It's appropriate that the Holy Spirit would favor Paper.

He is the Divine Person to whom we attribute the inspiration of Scripture, the Sacred Page.  Of course, all three persons had a hand in that (they're a tight-nit group and they're always doing things together) but we associate the Holy Spirit with having "spoken through the prophets."

This is an example of "appropriation"--to attribute certain names, qualities, or operations to a Person of the Trinity, not, however, to the exclusion of the others, but in preference to the others. Thus we consider the Father as particularly characterized by omnipotence, the Son by wisdom, and the Holy Spirit by love, while understanding that all three have by nature an equal omnipotence, wisdom, and love.

Intrigued? Confused? Bored? Learn more about "appropriation": http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01658a.htm

Um, isn't that an icon of the three archangels--Michael, Gabriel and Raphael? (note the wings).

Interestingly, no - this is the Holy Trinity as depicted throughout the centuries (until recently):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Trinity_Icon

In modern times, there has been a movement to depict the Trinity as an old man (God the Father), a young man (Jesus), and a dove (Holy Spirit), but there are many reasons why trying to make such a depiction fails on a metaphorical level (of course, any attempt at depicting this supernatural reality will fail on some level).