Orthodox icon | The Holy Trinity | Visit of the Three Angels | 24996

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Depicted is the Holy Trinity according to the Old Testament – the visit of the three angel messengers to Abraham and Sarah in the grove of Mamre. This visit indicates the appearance of the Trinity. The three angels are seated around a table with a goblet on it. Each holds a staff, the symbol of authority, representing the same divine authority. The visit that Abraham received in Mamre from “three men” – as it is called in the Bible (Gen 18.2) – and which some early church fathers understood as a mysterious reference to the three-person God, is seen by the Eastern Orthodox Church as the interpreted appearance of the Divine Trinity. While the Western Church has celebrated its own Trinity feast (on the first Sunday after Pentecost) since the high Middle Ages, the Eastern Church commemorates the appearance of the three angels to Abraham on Pentecost Sunday as a symbol of the triune God.

Top:

Deeis – Christ Pantocrator, flanked by the Mother of God and John the Forerunner, and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

In the corners:

The symbols of the four evangelists.

Sides:

Saint Sergius of Radonezh and Saint Martyr Leontius, Bishop and Miracle Worker of Rostov.

Below:

Three prophets including David and Solomon.