BALEN, Hendrick van

Holy Trinity
1620s
Oil on panel
Sint-Jacobskerk, Antwerp

The mistery of the

Holy Trinity

05

Compendium of the Catechism

44. What is the central

mystery of Christian faith
and life?
232-237
The central mystery of
Christian faith and life is
the mystery of the Most
Blessed Trinity. Christians
are baptized in the name
of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Introduction

The most important divine

secret of the faith that Jesus
Christ revealed to us: the
mystery of the Holy Trinity.
The fact that God is one in
essence and three in persons
is the revelation of His intimate
life.
We must try to find out about it
and experience it.
The Creed is the explanation of
the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
BECCAFUMI, Domenico
Trinity (detail)
1513
Oil on wood
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

Main ideas

1. The Trinity, the mystery of one God and three truly different
Persons

Misteries are beyond us, we

must try to find out more and
more about them so that our
faith may be strong and
operative.
The mystery of the Holy Trinity:

in God there is only one

essence and three distinct
Persons: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, each of which is God,
without being three Gods but
rather the one and true God.

We may compare this mystery

with the sun:

the sun is in the sky and

produces light and heat: light
and heat are not distinct from
the sun.

2. Salvation, work of the Trinity

Creation is attributed to the

Father; Redemption, to the
Son, and sanctification to the
Holy Spirit: we attribute
distinctive works to each
Person of the Holy Trinity, but
all Their works are made by
God, both One and Three.
That is why, when we thank
God for everything He has
done for us, we must thank
God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit.
CARRACCI, Lodovico
The Trinity with the Dead Christ
c. 1590
Oil on canvas, 173 x 127 cm
Pinacoteca, Vatican

3. Inhabitation of the Trinity in the soul in grace

The man who lives in the state

of grace is a living temple of the
Most Holy Trinity (cf. John
14:23).
From the day we are baptized,
if we do not reject Him by
mortal sin, it is God who is in
our heart: God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy
Spirit.
We have God inside us to
sanctify us, to help us, to be
with us, because He loves us.

MASACCIO
The Baptism of the Neophytes
1426-27
Fresco, 255 x 162 cm
Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

4. In heaven we shall see the Holy Trinity

The great prize of heaven

consists of seeing God,
contemplating, praising, loving
and enjoying the Most Holy
Trinity for all eternity:

All the greatness, all the

beauty, all the goodness of
God devoted to us His poor
creatures.

In heaven the soul shall have

the chance to see what Moses
wished to see on Earth: the
majesty of God.
LPEZ Y PORTANA, Vincente
Adoration of the Trinity
1791-92
Oil on canvas, 112 x 80 cm
Private collection

5. We must praise the Holy Trinity

God loves us in an incredible

way. So much love must be
returned by continually praising
the Trinity.
We profess faith in the Holy
Trinity
when we make the sign of the
Cross, saying in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit,
when praying Glory Be to the
Father, and to the Son and to the
Holy Spirit;
when we recite the Glory Be to
the Father or the Creed during
Holy Mass.

GRECO, El
The Trinity
1577
Oil on canvas, 300 x 179 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Resolutions for
Christian life

Resolutions to move forward

To learn the Creed and to pray

it with devotion.
To consider that the Holy Trinity
God Himself- inhabits in the
soul in the state of grace, and
that living in grace is the only
thing that really matters.