I’ve always loved the Finnish flag – a blue cross on white – because it so boldly states our faith in the risen Christ. But I also love the Irish shamrock. According to St. Patrick’s Day lore, Patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the Christian holy trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How wonderful to embrace the central part of Christian faith as your very own.

Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, AMP)

St. Patrick  put the great commission of Jesus into practice as a missionary to Ireland in the 5th century. He explained the holy trinity to the Irish by using something very common – the shamrock – to the Irish. I’ve written a post titled The Source of Life where I explain trinity this way:

God did not want us to live spiritually in darkness and he wanted to communicate with us the way we could understand so he sent us Jesus to be the life and the light for us. God (the father of light) came to us in a limited form: Jesus (the light that came down from heaven). They are inseparable even though the light travels millions of miles to us. And Jesus the Light also brought the heat (The Holy Spirit) with him. God, the source of life, provides us everything we need for life everlasting.

How about you? Do you struggle to understand the holy trinity? In some ways we can’t ever fully understand God. If we could do it, God would be as small as we are. That’s why I am happy to surrender to God that is way bigger than me.

I marvel the amazing salvation plan God has had from the beginning. I praise the holy trinity for providing everything that we can be united with God through Christ. So today, on St.Patrick’s Day, I celebrate the triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I end with the Lorica prayer of Saint Patrick. The first line (I arise today) is in some versions translated as “I bind unto myself today”:

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation
Amen

Q4U: Do you struggle with the concept of the holy trinity? What has helped you to understand it?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you embrace the holy trinity today!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses to Biblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.]

I always appreciate if you help sharing the blog posts with your friends & followers. So that everyone might know the love of God, receive the grace of Christ, and live in the presence of the Holy Spirit! Thank you! BLESSINGS!

Image courtesy of Andreas F. Borchert/Wikimedia. This post is refurbished from 2010. Linking up today with Sharing His Beauty, Hear it on Sunday, use it on Monday, Playdates with God, and counting blessings with Ann Voskamp:  #1100 The holy trinity blesses us beyond measure.