Metropolitan Onuphry explains how God's image manifests in man

Metropolitan Onuphry at the Trinity service. Photo: the UOC press service

On May 31, 2026, during the divine service at the St. Agapitus Church of the Kyiv Caves Lavra on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry delivered a sermon in which he revealed the mystery of the Triune Godhead and called upon the faithful to preserve purity of thoughts. A video recording of the sermon is published on the UOC YouTube channel.

The Primate hghlighted that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed already on the first pages of the Bible. In the first verse of the Book of Genesis, God the Father, who created heaven and earth, is mentioned; and then – the Spirit of God, who moved over the abyss. The creative Word of God – "let there be light", "let the earth bring forth" – is the second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, eternally begotten of the Father.

“When the Lord created man, a council of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity took place: ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’ These words were not spoken by a single Person but in the plural, for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all participated in this council,” the archpastor noted.

Metropolitan Onuphry recounted that Adam, living in Paradise, understood the mystery of the Holy Trinity, but after the fall, human reason became clouded and spiritual delusions began. The Lord reminded people of the essence of the Godhead, and the brightest Old Testament testimony to this was the appearance to Abraham of three angels, when God went to execute judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

"Abraham meets three angels and says: 'Lord, if You favor me, do not pass by me.' He addresses the Three as One," emphasized the Primate.

Speaking of the New Testament revelation, His Beatitude called the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan the brightest manifestation of the Holy Trinity, when God the Son was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and God the Father testified from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, in whom is My good pleasure."

The Primate of the UOC also drew attention to the fact that the seal of the Triune Godhead lies upon all creation. According to him, just as a craftsman leaves the seal of his handwriting on his work, so the Creator placed the image of the Trinity in the world He created.

"A bright seal of the Holy Trinity is in the sun. The solar disk is an image of God the Father. The ray proceeding from it is God the Son, eternally begotten of the Father. And the warmth that this ray carries with it is God the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and through the Son descending upon creation," explained Metropolitan Onuphry.

But the Primate identified the human mind as the most vivid imprint of the Triune Godhead. Every person is endowed with a mind that continually gives rise to thoughts, and those thoughts carry a certain spiritual energy.

“We must live in such a way that our minds generate good thoughts and that those thoughts bear good energy. When a person lives in sin, his thoughts and energy are dark and bring death. But when a person lives righteously, his thoughts carry life, joy, peace, and tranquility,” His Beatitude said.

Metropolitan Onuphrius concluded the sermon with a call to live according to the word of God, so that the image of the Triune Godhead, placed in man by the Creator, would always shine in him and lead to eternal salvation.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Onuphry shared how Saint Nicholas leads people to faith.

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