Trinity Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, is celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost. After the Church has walked through the great events of salvation, from Christmas to Easter to the coming of the Holy Spirit, she pauses to adore the God who revealed himself in them: one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In 2027, Trinity Sunday falls on May 23. Below is what the feast means, the readings for each year, its history, traditional prayers to the Holy Trinity and simple ways to celebrate it at home.
Trinity Sunday at a glance
| Date in 2027 | Sunday, May 23 (the Sunday after Pentecost, May 16) |
| Date in 2028 | Sunday, June 11 |
| Rank | Solemnity |
| Liturgical color | White |
| Sunday cycle | Year B in 2027; Year C in 2028 |
What the feast celebrates
“The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself” (CCC 234). We do not believe in three gods, but in “one God in three persons” (CCC 253). The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each fully God, distinct from one another, and perfectly one in love.
We could never have discovered this by ourselves; God revealed it by sending his Son and his Spirit. Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” and every Christian life begins with those words and is marked by them in every Sign of the Cross.
And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.
The readings
Year B (May 23, 2027):
- Deuteronomy 4:32–34, 39–40: “The Lord he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other.”
- Psalm 33: “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”
- Romans 8:14–17: the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
- Matthew 28:16–20: the Great Commission, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Year C (June 11, 2028): Proverbs 8:22–31 (Wisdom at play before God at creation); Psalm 8; Romans 5:1–5; John 16:12–15 (“he will guide you into all truth”).
Year A (2029 and 2032): Exodus 34:4–6, 8–9 (“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious”); Daniel 3:52–56; 2 Corinthians 13:11–13 (the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit); John 3:16–18 (“God so loved the world”).
For the intercessions, see the Prayers of the Faithful for Trinity Sunday.
The history of the feast
Devotion to the Holy Trinity is as old as the Church: the creeds, the doxologies and the baptismal formula all proclaim it. A special Mass of the Holy Trinity was composed in the early Middle Ages, and many monasteries and dioceses kept a feast of the Trinity on the Sunday after Pentecost. Pope John XXII extended the feast to the whole Church in 1334. Since the liturgical reform of 1969 it has been a solemnity.
Prayers to the Holy Trinity
The Glory Be, the shortest prayer to the Trinity:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
Invocations to the Holy Trinity, indulgenced by Pope Leo XIII in 1890 (from Father Lasance’s With God, 1911):
Omnipotence of the Father, help my frailty, and rescue me from the depths of misery. Wisdom of the Son, direct all my thoughts, words, and actions.
Love of the Holy Spirit, be the source of all the operations of my soul, so that they may be entirely conformed to the divine will.
A prayer of adoration to the Holy Trinity, indulgenced by Pope St. Pius X in 1906 (from With God):
I adore Thee, O my God, one God in three Persons; I annihilate myself before Thy majesty. Thou alone art being, life, truth, beauty, and goodness. I glorify Thee, I praise Thee, I thank Thee, and I love Thee, all incapable and unworthy as I am, in union with Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Father, in the mercifulness of His heart and through His infinite merits. I wish to serve Thee, to please Thee, to obey Thee, and to love Thee always, in union with Mary immaculate, Mother of God and our Mother, loving also and serving my neighbor for Thy sake. Therefore, give me Thy Holy Spirit to enlighten, correct, and guide me in the way of Thy commandments, and in all perfection, until we come to the happiness of heaven, where we shall glorify Thee forever. Amen.
The Angel of Fatima’s prayer to the Holy Trinity (1916), in our translation; see all the Fatima prayers:
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, and I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which he himself is offended.
And through the infinite merits of his Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I ask of you the conversion of poor sinners.
St. Paul’s Trinitarian blessing, used as a greeting at the start of Mass:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.
How to celebrate Trinity Sunday at home
- Make the Sign of the Cross slowly as a family, and talk about what it means.
- Use a shamrock or a triangle to explain the Trinity to children, as St. Patrick is said to have done, remembering that every image falls short of the mystery.
- Pray the Glory Be after each meal during the week.
- Tell the story of St. Augustine and the child on the beach: the child trying to pour the sea into a little hole, a reminder that the Trinity is a mystery to adore more than a puzzle to solve.
- Renew your baptismal promises, since you were baptized in the name of the Trinity. See the Catholic baptism guide.
Frequently asked questions
When is Trinity Sunday in 2027?
Sunday, May 23, 2027, one week after Pentecost (May 16).
Is Trinity Sunday a holy day of obligation?
It is always a Sunday, so Mass is obligatory as on every Sunday.
Why is Trinity Sunday celebrated after Pentecost?
Because with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the revelation of the Father, the Son and the Spirit is complete. The Church then gives thanks for the mystery of God himself.
More for Pentecost and Ordinary Time
- Psalm 33 (Rejoice in the Lord, O you just)
- Psalm 8 (How admirable is thy name)
- The Athanasian Creed
- Holy, Holy, Holy (the Sanctus)
- Pentecost
- Corpus Christi
- Ordinary Time
- Liturgical year
- Sign of the Cross
- Apostles’ Creed
Texts and sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 234, 253.
- Glory Be: A Catechism of Christian Doctrine No. 3 (Baltimore Catechism, 1891), public domain. Invocations and prayer to the Holy Trinity: F. X. Lasance, With God (1911), Indulgenced Prayers, public domain (Wikisource).
- Lectionary for Mass, The Most Holy Trinity, Years A, B and C.
- Scripture: Matthew 28:18–20; Deuteronomy 4:39; 2 Corinthians 13:13 (13:14 in some Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.