The Council of Constantinople in 381 declared that the Holy Spirit is Lord and Giver of Life, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, meaning that the Holy Spirit is equally God, with the Father and the Son. God is a Trinity of Persons or Hypostases, but he is one thing, one essence, and one nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God.

 

The symbol of the House of Constantinople is the evergreen, representing the undying life that the Holy Spirit gives.

 

The House of Constantinople is also represented by the dove, as the form in which the Holy Spirit appeared in the Gospels.

 

The patrons of the House of Constantinople are St Gregory of Nazianzus, who presided at the Council of Constantinople and defended the divinity of the Spirit, and St Macrina, sister of St Basil the Great and a great philosopher in her own right. St Gregory and St Macrina are important Cappadocian theologians, from the region of Cappadocia in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).