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So C. Streetsill asks, Please explain the symbolism of the Orthodox icon of the Holy Trinity. It has three angels sitting around a table where Abraham’s offering has been placed. Alright, and so a related question on the Trinity also. Hi Jonathan, I’ve noticed that in some renditions of Rublev’s Trinity icon, the head of the calf is depicted in the bowl on the table. Is this simply a remnant of the icon’s origin as the hospitality of Abraham, or is there something symbolic going on? And so yes, yes, and yes. So, I mean, the symbolism of the Orthodox icon of the Trinity, especially the one by Rublev, what Rublev did is that the image of the hospitality of Abraham is one of the oldest images. We have versions of it in some of the early Roman churches. There’s a mosaic, for example, in St. Mary Major, where there is a little mosaic of the hospitality of Abraham. And in that, you know, the hospitality of Abraham is when the three angels came to visit Abraham and Abraham served them a calf. But also it’s the moment where the angels discern that Sarah is pregnant. But the image of the three angels has been seen by the Church Fathers as an image or as a hinting of the Trinity from the very beginning. And so what Rublev was able to do was that he was able to reduce the image to its most simplest terms. In the older versions, you would see Abraham and Sarah coming to serve the angels. You would see, for example, young men killing the calf. So you could see different things in the image. But now in the version of Rublev, you really have it simplified. And the way that it’s done, it’s very powerful because the way that the angels are sitting around the table, they open up in a manner that, you know, it feels like you are coming towards the table. And so now the table in the icon of Rublev becomes, of course, the Eucharistic table. It becomes a table of the sacraments. It also, in a way, becomes a hint at theosis, at divinization. That is, that the Trinity is asking us to join into the life of the Trinity, to come and be with them in their communion, and so to participate in that communion. And so the angels aren’t identified as the different members of the Trinity, but usually the way that it’s understood is at least for sure, the image of the angel in the center is Christ because of the color of his vestments and because of the way that he’s kind of holding his fingers. And then after that, it becomes a little more ambiguous, I would say, in terms of interpretations. I’ve read several and I’ve never completely satisfied with the interpretations. As for the calf, which is on the table, I do really believe that it is suggestive of the Eucharist and it is suggesting the sacrifice of Christ and of the relationship between the blood, the flesh, and the bread and the wine. So that’s what’s going on there. Hopefully that answers that question. It’s probably one of the most famous Orthodox icons at this point. So Joey says, hi Jonathan, can you explain the connection between the divine liturgy and the dinner table? How are these rituals connected? And thank you in advance. So the liturgy or, you know, especially the Eucharist has many aspects to it. And so the relationship between a dinner table is one of them. It’s not the only one. And we have to be careful because especially in the modern times, especially the Catholics and Vatican too, and then maybe before that some Protestant strains, before that they tend to want to reduce the, to remove the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist, to remove the altar aspect of the Eucharist and make the altar just into a table, like a meal, a table meal where we, like I talked about in the icon of the Trinity, where we’re invited to come and eat. So we’re invited into communion at this dinner table. So there is a, but there is a relationship. It’s not just that. And so you can understand that the manner in which you eat together at the table with your friends, with your family, you are manifesting communion. That is, you are feeding on the same body from below. That is, you’re eating the same potential and you’re manifesting a team, like you’re manifesting a communion because you’re sitting together and you’re looking at each other, you’re speaking with each other. And so eating together is very powerful. It’s a very, it’s one of the most powerful symbolism that we have. It’s also so primordial, right? And so you can understand that it’s eating together at a table is participating and embodying the communion of the people that are together. Because you don’t eat with strangers. You can eat next to a stranger, right, in a restaurant, in a cafeteria, but you don’t eat with them. It’s not the same. We know it’s not the same. When you eat with someone, you are engaging in an act of communion with them. So now take this up to the highest level that you can and you can understand that one aspect of the Eucharist is that, which is that we are all eating the same body and blood of Christ. We offered that body up as bread and wine, you know, and now it’s coming back to us as the blood and body of Christ. And as we eat it, we are also becoming a body. We’re becoming the church. We’re becoming the body of Christ. And that is the ultimate form of communion. And so communion, the Eucharist is a meal. And in that sense, it has a higher version of the same type of symbolism that you have, you know, when you’re sitting with friends or in a family, eating together at the table.