Often, even for us adults, the Trinity is mysterious. God is infinite. We can never fully understand Him or get to the bottom of His mysteries. Moreover, God is unique and only He is the Creator. Nothing in the created world serves as a model or analogy for Him. One of the things we can tell our children is that there is no one like God. Nothing in the created world gives us a complete picture of who God is. And only Jesus is the complete image of God (John 14:9; Col. 2:9). But although we can know Him, we do not know Him completely.
Once upon a time, one of the fathers of the Church said that "the family is a small Church." And indeed, we, parents, usually not prepared for this, have to be both spiritual mentors and managers, and even theologians. Our little flock are our children, and they often ask us difficult questions that we must answer.
“Dad, how is it? You say that God is one, and then you say that there is God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? And such a question is difficult to answer. And perhaps the first thing that believing parents teach their children is to be baptized and say: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Of course, we know that God is incomprehensible to the human mind, that we humans cannot understand the Divine essence, just as we cannot see Him with our physical sight.
It can be explained to older children, and, as always, it is easier to do it not with a logical explanation, but with a story, an example from life.
There is, for example, a story about blessed Augustine (a bishop who lived in the 5th century). He thought for a long time about the mystery of the Holy Trinity, trying to "penetrate" it with his mind. Once he was walking along the seashore and saw a little boy playing on the sand - digging a hole in the sand with his hands and then, scooping water with his palms, poured it into the hole.
"What are you doing?" Augustine asked.
"I want to pour the sea into my hole," answered the boy.
The saint took this answer as an indication to himself that it is impossible for the human mind to understand the essence of God.
You can talk like this with older children, and the little ones are convinced that there are answers to all questions.
Saint Cyril, who with his brother Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet in order to preach Christianity to our Slavic ancestors, explained the mystery of the Holy Trinity to the Muslim Arabs who spoke with him. The Arabs said to him: "We believe in One God and do not understand how you can believe in One God and at the same time say that He is the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit." Saint Cyril answered them: "Don't you see the sun? Only one sun shines in the sky, which gives life to everything on earth. The sun is one, but we are talking about its shape, the heat and light it gives. The sun is one. Form, light and heat are all one sun."
There is another interpretation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God is Love. Love is never alone. Love always binds one to another. We feel it in happy family happiness. A loving family feels its unity. And if we imagine the most perfect love, which is much higher, stronger and purer than human love can be, it will help us understand the unity of the Holy Trinity. Three Persons - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - in His perfect love, the One God.
Sometimes children ask further: "How did people learn about the Holy Trinity? Who invented it?".
We find the first mention of God as the Holy Trinity in the Old Testament account of the creation of the world. In the first three verses of the Holy Scriptures (in the book of Genesis) it is said: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said: "Let there be light!" And the light came."
These words speak about God the Creator, about His Spirit and about His Word, with which He addressed the world.
In Christian theology, Jesus Christ is called "Word", in Greek - "Logos". And in the New Testament, in the Gospel of John, which is read at the Liturgy before Easter, it is said: "In the beginning of time was the Word, and with God was the Word, and the Word was God. It was with God from the beginning. Everything came into being through him, and nothing that came into being came into being without him. It had life in it."
The New Testament tells about how God revealed the mystery of the Holy Trinity to people, and this mystery was revealed in such a way that people could perceive it, feel it.
The following is said about the baptism of Jesus Christ: "In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee; and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came out of the water, he saw the sky open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with you." (Mk. 1:9–11).
The holiday commemorating the Baptism of Jesus Christ is called Epiphany.
Jesus Christ constantly spoke of God as His Father and called Himself His Son. He also spoke to the disciples about the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of John, in the story of the Last Supper, the words of Christ are given: "When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, then he will testify for me." (John 15:26).
And before His ascension, Jesus Christ confirmed this, saying: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28:19), and ordered His disciples not to leave from Jerusalem and wait there for the promised Comforter.
This event is described in the Acts of the Apostles: "And when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in the same place. Then suddenly there was a noise from the sky, as if a violent wind had blown, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues appeared to them, like fire, and settled on each of them. (Acts 2:1–3).
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not an abstract dogma, not a philosophy of sages, not an "opinion about God." God is a real Reality, a Personality, and we, small, sinful individuals, turn to Him in our imperfect prayer and feel in our lives His personal, perfect love for each of us. We feel and believe in God as the Creator of everything, we believe in His love for us, His appeal to us in His Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, we feel and believe in the life-giving Power of God's Spirit.
In the "Our Father" prayer, we teach our children to pray to God as Father.
By repeating the words "Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me", we enter into very close communication with the Savior who suffered for us.
In the prayer "Heavenly King..." we turn to the Holy Spirit of God, the Giver of life, and ask Him to dwell in us and cleanse us of all evil.
Only the experience of such a prayer, the experience of a loving and prayerful appeal to the True and True God can help our children get closer to the mystery of the Holy Trinity!
