The Perception of the Holy Trinity

St. Augustine of Hippo and the little boy who many believe was Jesus at the Sea shore.

A story is told about an encounter between St. Augustine of Hippo and a young boy he met at the sea shore trying to fill a small hole with all the water in the ocean which definitely seemed impossible, but it was a narrow story with a broad meaning.

No one can perceive the dogma of the Holy Trinity at once or the all of it because of it's broad nature, it is only God that makes us understand bit by bit about what the Holy Trinity is made of. As Christians, we are obliged to always seek out and try to understand this complex dogma, we need to ask the Lord to guide us and let us understand Him more and more.

It was around the year 415 and St. Augustine was walking along the beach on a bright, sunny day. He was frustrated, having taken a break from working on what’s become known as one of his greatest doctrinal contributions to the Church, De Trinitate, or “On the Trinity.” The subject matter had left him bleary-eyed – in need of fresh air.

It was in this moment, as the frothy tide rushed out, that a little boy caught St. Augustine’s eye. The freckle-faced child had a determined, furrowed brow. He was clearly up to something, running back-and-forth, back-and-forth, between the sea and a tiny hole in the ground.

“My son,” St. Augustine called over the crashing waves, “What are you doing there?”

The boy held up the pink shell he was using to move water, “I’m trying to fit that great big ocean into this tiny hole,” he yelled, pointing assertively at the sand.

St. Augustine smiled, charmed by the child’s innocence, his bright eyes, the way sunlight shone in his curly hair. He then followed the boy to kneel beside the tiny hole, watching him spill out a few meager drops.

“My child,” the bishop of Hippo broke the news gently, turning the boy’s skinny shoulders to face the sea. He then spread his own arms wide, “You could never fit this great, magnificent ocean into that tiny hole!”

The child didn’t flinch, but responded quickly: “And you could never possibly understand the Holy Trinity.” Then in a flash, the boy disappeared.

Over the centuries many great thinkers have speculated about this legend. Was the child an angel? Was he Christ himself? Many have taken the boy’s words literally, concluding that it’s impossible for man to understand the Trinity – so why even try?

“We can never understand these mysteries all at once” (much like the ocean – where scientists discover new life all the time). “But if we open our minds to God, he reveals himself to us bit by bit.”

And it’s this bit by bit or drop by drop part that means so much to me. Could that child fit the whole ocean into his tiny hole? Of course not – just as St. Augustine couldn’t fit the entire mystery of the Holy Trinity into his brain all at once.

But could the little boy fit a tiny bit of salt water into the sandy hole, before it sank away, nourishing the ground? Yeah, and in my experience, that’s the same way God often imparts himself to us – bit by bit or drop by drop.

St. Augustine was born in Northern Africa in present day Algeria and he was the son to St. Monica, a lot is known about St. Monica his mother, she dedicated seventeen years of her time for God to convert her family which included her pagan son Augustine. After her dedication in prayer, God answered her prayers and all her family members converted into Catholicism including Augustine who later became Bishop of Hippo and one of the doctors of the Church. 

Saints Augustine and Monica, pray for us.