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From
a letter by Saint Athanasius, bishop
Light, radiance, and grace are
in the Trinity and from the Trinity
 t will not be out
of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic
Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the Apostles and guarded
by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built, and if anyone were to
lapse from it, he would no longer be a Christian either in fact or in name.
 We acknowledge the Trinity, holy
and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this
Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside,
nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly
creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in Its active
power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit,
and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved. Accordingly,
in the Church, one God is preached, one God who is above all things and
through all things and in all things. God is above all things
as Father, for He is principle and source; He is through all things
through the Word; and He is in all things in the Holy
Spirit.
Writing to the Corinthians about
spiritual matters, Paul traces all reality back to one God, the Father, saying:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and varieties of
service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is
the same God who inspires them all in everyone.
Even the gifts that the Spirit
dispenses to individuals are given by the Father through the Word. For all
that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son, and so the graces given
by the Son in the Spirit are true gifts of the Father. Similarly, when the
Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the
Father is present in the Word. This is the meaning of the text: My Father
and I will come to him and make our home with him. For where the light
is, there also is the radiance; and where the radiance is, there too are
its power and its resplendent grace.
This is also Paul’s teaching
in his second letter to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
For grace and the gift of the Trinity are given by the Father through the
Son in the Holy Spirit. Just as grace is given from the Father through the
Son, so there could be no communication of the gift to us except in the Holy
Spirit. But when we share in the Spirit, we posses the love of the Father,
the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit Himself.
—Saint Athanasius, bishop
Office of Readings, Trinity Sunday
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