The Triangle: Symbol of the Most Holy Trinity

Blessed be the Holy Trinity, and undivided Unity:
we will praise It, because It hath shown Its mercy unto us
(Introit from the Feast of the Holy Trinity)
The Most Holy Trinity has received the highest veneration of the Church since her very beginnings, for the Trinity is the cause of all things and worthy of all praise. Catholic peoples have always seen reflections of the Trinity in Creation.

Flowers of the Trinity

The early Christians saw many symbols in nature that reflected the Trinity. Three-parted flowers with their three petals on one bud signify in a most fitting manner One God in Three Persons. The fleur-de-lis and other flowers in the lily family were often used as symbols of the Holy Trinity, as well as of Our Blessed Lady, whom St. Gertrude the Great called the, “Fair Lily of the ever-peaceful and glorious Trinity.”

The humble viola with its small triangularly-shaped flowers streaked with black rays denoted the Holy Trinity in the Middle Ages. Even to this day in Germany the viola is known as the Dreifaltigkeitsblume (Trinity flower); in Spain the pansy (viola tricolor) is called Trinitaria.

When the Portuguese and Spanish colonized Brazil, Argentina and Peru, they found the lovely bougainvillea with its flowers of three petals that formed bunches of three and also named it Trinitaria. Another flower named the Dreifaltigkeitsblume was the star flower of chickweed (trientalis europaea and trientalis americana), because a star can be formed by interlacing two triangles.

The three leaves of clover and wood sorrel were also symbols of the Trinity, and were thus used along with pansies as decor on Trinity Sunday, especially in the British Isles.

Artistic representations of the Holy Trinity began to proliferate after the Council of Nicaea in the 4^th century as a tribute to honor the Three Persons of the One God, the object of so many heresies in those times. In early art, three circles (sometimes interwoven), three suns, three parted crystals, a candle with three flames, and three crosses were incorporated into paintings and architecture to symbolize the Holy Trinity.

The Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan, the three visitors of Abraham and the three Angels in the fiery furnace were also favorite depictions that reminded the faithful of their Triune God.

The Triangle symbolism

The triangle is an ancient symbol venerated since pagan times, as representing the harmonious balance of Earth, Sky and Sea. Although they were misguided in their interpretation, their reverence for the triangle reveals some truth that God placed in the human understanding, which reached its plenitude in the Holy Catholic Church.

From her earliest history, in fact, as noted above, the triangle has been a feature in Catholic art. A 3^rd century epitaph from the catacombs of St. Priscilla contains a representation of the triangle.

By medieval times, the equilateral triangle symbolizing One God in Three Divine Persons became a common symbol of the Holy Trinity. The three angles and the three sides are equal and yet constitute one single surface. Thus, our forefathers found this a fitting symbol of the Triune God in which “the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal.” (The Athanasian Creed)

Medieval Gothic architecture also contains many uses of the triangle in the aspes, arches and windows of the grand cathedrals that rose up to the Heavens as an expression of praise to the glory of God.

Various forms were used to represent the triangle. One was the triqueta which consisted of three connected arcs that represent eternity and a triangle-like shape symbolizing the Trinity. The Carolingian Cross popular in the 11^th and 12^th centuries consisted of four triquetras.

The trefoil (a stylized shamrock) and the Y-shaped fork were also commonly used to represent the intangibility of the Trinity, especially in Celtic and Gothic art. The Irish were especially fond of the trefoil, since it strongly resembled the shamrock used by St. Patrick to teach their pagan forefathers the mysteries of the Faith.

At times the Holy Trinity was symbolized by a triangle formed of three fish or hares. This was an especially popular depiction in Germany; in the Paderborn Cathedral in Westphalia there is the Dreihasenfenster (“Window of Three Hares”). It is also found in the roof bosses of medieval churches in Devon, England,

The all-seeing Eye usurped by the Masons

An eye was sometimes added to the center of the triangle to symbolize God’s omniscience as the all-seeing Father watching over His creatures through His Divine Providence, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures: “Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear Him: and on them that hope in His mercy.” (Ps. 32:18)

This symbolism became especially popular in the Baroque period when many Trinity churches were built and Trinity columns erected in public squares to fulfill vows made during times of plague. One of the most famous depictions of the Eye of Providence can be seen in the baptistery of St. Mary Major in Rome.

The eye of God is also a reminder that, “the eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil.” (Prov. 15:3) And so, trying to destroy God’s Holy Church the Devil has attempted to mock His omniscience by setting up his own secret societies that fight against the Church.

Freemasonry stole the symbolism of the eye in the triangle from the Church and adopted it to symbolize the “Supreme Architect of the Universe” and “bestower of light.”

The "light," which their “Architect” proposes to bestow on his initiates is the light of Gnosis, that pretense secret knowledge that masonry reserves for select members who pass into the higher Orders. The real “god” of the Masons is Lucifer, their Architect who enables the enlightened Masons to become architects of a new world based on equality, fraternity and liberty.

But despite all of their efforts, they themselves are ever under the power and eyes of the Holy Trinity. Their true wretchedness will be made manifest at the Day of Doom: “Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.” (Amos 9:8)

May Our Lady soon crush the head of the Devil and of his agents in the Freemasonry, so that the triangle with the all-seeing Eye can be restored to its true glory as a symbol of the One True God over whom the legions of Hell will never prevail.



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