The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. God revealed himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was Our Lord Jesus Christ who revealed this mystery to us. He spoke of the Father, the Holy Spirit and Himself as God. Therefore, it is not a truth invented by the Church, but revealed by Jesus. We cannot understand it, because the Mystery of God does not fit into our heads, but it is the revealed truth.
Saint Augustine (†430) said: “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first source and, through the eternal donation of the latter to the Son, from the Father and the Son in communion” (The Trinity, 15,26,47).
There is only one God, but in Him there are three distinct divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There cannot be more than one God, as this is absolute. If there were two gods, one of them would be smaller than the other, and God cannot be smaller than the other, as he would not be God.
The Holy Trinity is One
We do not profess three gods, but one God in three Persons: The consubstantial Trinity (II Conc. Constantinople, DS 421). The Father is what the Son is, the Son is what the Father is, and what the Father and the Son are, that is, one God by nature (XI Conc. Toledo, in 675, DS 530). Each of the three persons is this reality, that is, the substance, the essence or the divine nature (IV Conc. Lateran, in 1215, DS 804).
Pope Damasus’ Profession of Faith says: God is unique, but not solitary (Fides Damasi, DS 71). Father, Son, Holy Spirit are not simply names that designate modalities of the divine being, as they are actually distinct from each other: “He who is the Father is not the Son, and he who is the Son is not the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son” (XI Conc. Toledo, in 675, DS 530). They are distinguished from each other by their relationships of origin: It is the Father who generates, the Son who is generated, the Holy Spirit who proceeds (IV Conc. Lateran, e, 1215, DS 804).
A teaches that the divine Persons are relative to each other. Because they do not share the divine unity, the real distinction between Persons resides solely in the relationships that refer them to each other:
In the relative names of Persons, the Father is referred to the Son, the Son to the Father, the Holy Spirit to both; when one speaks of these three Persons, considering the relationships, one nevertheless believes in a single nature or substance (XI Conc. Toledo, DS 675). Everything is one where there is no opposition of relationship (Conc. Florence, in 1442, DS 1330). Because of this unity, the Father is all whole in the Son, all whole in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father, wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit, all whole in the Father, all whole in the Son (Conc. Florence, in 1442, DS 1331).
To the Catechumens of Constantinople, St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-379), “the Theologian”, explained:
Before all things, preserve for me this good deposit, for which I live and fight, with which I want to die, which makes me endure all evils and despise all pleasures: I refer to the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and in the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. It’s because of her that, in a little while, I’m going to dip you into the water and pull you out of it. I give her to you as a companion and mistress of your entire life. I give you one Divinity and Power, which exists One in the Three, and which contains the Three in a distinct way. Divinity with no difference in substance or nature, without a higher degree that elevates or a lower degree that lowers. The infinite connaturality is of three infinities. Each considered in himself is God all whole. God the Three considered together. I didn’t even begin to think about Unity, and the Trinity bathes me in Its splendor. I didn’t even begin to think about the Trinity, and unity took over me (Or. 40,41).
The first Catechism, called “” from the year 90 said:
“As regards the , baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in running water. If there is no running water, baptize in another water; If you cannot baptize in cold water, do it in hot water. Failing one or the other, pour water on your head three times, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Didache 7,1-3).
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What do the saints say?
Saint Clement of Rome, Pope in the year 96, taught: “One God, one Christ, one Spirit of grace” (Letter to the Corinthians 46,6). “As God lives, so lives the Lord and the Holy Spirit” (Letter to the Corinthians 58,2).
Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch (107), martyr in Rome, stated: “You are the stones of the Father’s temple, raised on high by the crane of Jesus Christ, who is his cross, with the Holy Spirit as a rope” ( Letter to the Ephesians 9:1).
“Try to remain firm in the teachings of the Lord and the Apostles, so that everything you do in the flesh and in the spirit, in faith and in love, in the Son, in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, united with the your most worthy bishop and to the precious spiritual crown formed by your priests and deacons according to God. Be submissive to the bishop and also to one another, just as Jesus Christ submitted himself in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles submitted themselves to Christ, the Father and the Spirit, so that there may be union, both physical and spiritual” ( Letter to the Magnesians 13,1-2).
Saint Justin, martyr in the year 151, wrote these words to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius: “Those who are baptized by us are taken to a place where there is water and are regenerated in the same way as we were. It is in the name of the Father of all and Lord God, and of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit that they receive the lotion in the water. This rite was handed down to us by the apostles” (I Apology 61).
Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who was a disciple of Saint John the evangelist, martyred in the year 156, declared: “I praise you, God of Truth, I bless you, I glorify you through your Son Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest in heaven; By Him, with Him and the Holy Spirit, glory be given to you, now and in the ages to come! Amen” (Martyrdom of Polycarp 14,1-3).
Theophilus of Antioch, year 181, confirmed: “Likewise the three days that precede the creation of the lights are a symbol of the Trinity: of God, of his Word and of his Wisdom” (Second Book to Autolycus 15,3).
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, year 189, stated: “In effect, the Church, spread throughout the world to the ends of the earth, received from the apostles and their disciples faith in one God, the omnipotent Father, who made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in it; in one Jesus Christ, Son of God, incarnated for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit who, through the prophets, announced the economy of God” (Against Heresies I,10,1).
“We have already shown that the Word, that is, the Son, was always with the Father. But also Wisdom, the Spirit was also with Him before all creation” (Against Heresies IV,20,4).
Tertullian, Roman Christian writer, in the year 210: “The law of baptizing was established and the formula prescribed: ‘Go, teach the people, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’” (On Baptism 13).
And the Council of Nicaea, year 325, confirmed this entire truth:
“We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, born of the Father as Only Begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father , by whom everything in heaven and on earth was made. We believe in the Holy Spirit, Lord and source of life, who proceeds from the Father, with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the Prophets” (Nicene Creed).
Felipe Aquino
Professor Felipe Aquino is a widower, father of five children. On TV , he presents the program “Escola da Fé” and “Pergunte e Responderemos”, on Radio he presents the program “No Coração da Igreja”. On weekends he holds in-depth meetings throughout Brazil and abroad. He wrote 73 books on Catholic formation for publishers Cléofas, Loyola and. Teacher page: and Twitter: