Trinity Sunday

A feast of the Christian belief in one God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

When: The first Sunday after Pentecost (in Western churches)

Origin and history

Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity: one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the early Church no special day was set apart for it. Prayers for the Trinity appear in the Sacramentary of Gregory the Great, and the feast spread during the Middle Ages. Pope John XXII ordered it for the whole Western Church on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Thomas Becket was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on the Sunday after Pentecost, and his martyrdom may have encouraged its popularity in England.

Customs

In the traditional Divine Office, the Athanasian Creed is said on this day.
The liturgical colour is white.

How traditions differ

Trinity Sunday is kept by Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed and Methodist churches. In Eastern Christianity, the Trinity is celebrated on Pentecost Sunday itself.

In the library

Works: The Early Christian Creeds · The Bible

Great Lives: Gregory the Great · Thomas Becket · Athanasius of Alexandria

More in After Pentecost

Corpus Christi · Nativity of St John the Baptist · Sts Peter and Paul · Michaelmas · All Hallows' Eve · Reformation Day · All Saints' Day · All Souls' Day · St Martin's Day (Martinmas) · Christ the King

Sources checked: Trinity Sunday (Wikipedia).