Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity

Icon of the Old Testament Trinity, c. 1410, Andrei Rublev

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Blessed Trinity. This, the ineffable mystery of God's intimate life, is the central truth of our faith and the source of all gifts and graces. The liturgy of the Mass invites us to loving union with each of the Three Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This feast was established for the Latin Church by Pope John XXII, to be celebrated on the Sunday after the coming of the Holy Spirit, which is the last of the mysteries of our salvation. Today we can say many times, savoring it, the prayer: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

[St. Teresa] writes: Once when I was reciting the "Quicumque vult," I was shown so clearly how it was possible for there to be one God alone and three Persons that it caused me both amazement and much comfort. It was of the greatest help to me in teaching me to know more of the greatness of God and of his marvels. When I think of the most Holy Trinity, or hear it spoken of, I seem to understand how there can be such a mystery, and it is a great joy to me.

The whole of a Christian's supernatural life is directed towards this knowledge of and intimate conversation with the Trinity, who become eventually the fruit and the end of our whole life (St. Thomas). It is for this end that we have been created and raised to the supernatural order: to know, to talk to and to love God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who dwell in the soul in grace.

In Conversation With God Vol 6
Special Feasts: January - June

I love this portion of Proverbs which is always read aloud during this Mass. It is one of my all time favorites as it conveys God's creativity, mastery, craftsmanship, delight, playfulness, and ... love.

Thus says the wisdom of God:
"The LORD possessed me, the beginning of his ways,
the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
from of old I was poured forth,
at the first, before the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no fountains or springs of water;
before the mountains were settled into place,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
while as yet the earth and fields were not made,
nor the first clods of the world.

"When the Lord established the heavens I was there,
when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;
when he made firm the skies above,
when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth;
when he set for the sea its limit,
so that the waters should not transgress his command;
then was I beside him as his craftsman,
and I was his delight day by day,
playing before him all the while,
playing on the surface of his earth;
and I found delight in the human race."
PRV 8:22-31

The Trinity: The Key That Opens Every Lock

Perhaps they [clergy explaining the Trinity] feel a bit like quantum physicists, trying to explain to laymen how light can be a particle at the same time as being a wave.

But the doctrine of the Trinity does not just make sense of a few experimental observations in a laboratory. It makes sense of human life as a whole. It is the Key that opens every lock, an insight that reveals the center of the universe. It shows us the pattern that underlies physics, history, psychology, economics, and the arts. It is the most beautiful, elegant, and simple doctrine in the world — a true "theory of everything."

Stratford Caldecott, The Radiance of Being

From my newest book crush.

Eternity with the Trinity. Boring?

At this point the question spontaneously arises, What will we do from this point on? Won't it be boring to spend all eternity with the same three Persons, even if they are divine? We could answer with another question: is it ever boring to enjoy feeling wonderful? People get bored of everything except "feeling wonderful," and eternity brings "infinite well-being." ...

... The best answer to the question "What will our life be like with the Trinity?" is found in a legend narrated by a modern German author. In a medieval monastery there were two monks, Rufus and Rufinus, who had a deep friendship. They spent all their free time trying to imagine and describe what eternal life would be like in the heavenly Jerusalem. Rufus was a builder, so he imagined it as a city with golden doors studded with precious stones; Rufinus was an organist, so he imagined it as full of heavenly melodies.

They ended up making a pact that whichever of them died first would return the following night to reassure the other that things were indeed as they had imagined. One word would do. If things were as they had imagined, he would simply say Taliter! ("Exactly!"). If things were different -- but this seemed completely impossible -- he would say, Aliter! ("Different!).

One night while he was playing the organ, Rufinus died of a heart attack. his friend stayed awake anxiously all night, but nothing. He kept vigil and fasted for weeks and months, but nothing. Finally on the anniversary of his death, Rufinus entered his friend's cell at night in a circle of light. Seeing that Rufinus was silent, Rufus -- sure of an affirmative answer -- asked his friend, "Taliter? That's right isn't it?" But his friend shook his head no. Desperate, Rufus cried out, "Aliter! Different?" Again his friend shook his friend no.

Finally his silent friend breathed forth only two words: "Totaliter aliter -- Completely different." Rufus understood in a flash that heaven was infinitely more than what they had imagined and could not be described. He also died shortly after because of his desire to go there. This story is a legend, but its content is nevertheless biblical:

No eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him.
(see 1 Corinthians 2:9)

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

Now that's something to think about, isn't it? Knowing that my vision is limited, nevertheless, I always have imagined Heaven as a divine library, which tells you where my passions lie (as if y'all didn't know that already).

The Trinity, Part III - The Understanding of Unity

Icon of the Old Testament Trinity, c. 1410, Andrei Rublev

The Eastern vision of the Trinity is above all, then, a call to unity. At first sight, this could appear to contrast with what we know of Greek and Latin theologies. It is well known that in discussions of the Trinity, the Greeks and Latins went in opposite directions: the Greeks began with the divine Persons, that is, from plurality, and proceeded to nature and thus to unity; the Latins, on the other hand, began with nature, or divine unity, and with the Greeks, plurality led to unity. In the Latin vision, this characterization is clearly confirmed by the fact that the treatment of divine unity in Western theology -- the De Deo uno ("concerning the oneness of God") -- precedes the treatment of divine plurality, the De Deo trino ("concerning the triune nature of God")...

The different visions of the Trinity are reflected in the way the church is seen in the East and in the West. This is worth emphasizing, because it can help reinforce the desire and necessity for full unity between them. For those in the East, the plurality of the churches is an assumption that is taken for granted. The problem, or challenge,is how to ensure an effective and efficacious unity undergirding the autonomy of the individual churches. It is just the opposite for the Catholic Church" unity is the strongest and most obvious assumption, guaranteed by the exercise of the primacy by Peter's successor. The problem, or challenge, is how to allow the required room for diversity, i.e., for the pluralism and autonomy of the local churches. In the East, pluralism is the departure point and unity is the goal; for the West, unity is the departure point and plurality is the goal. The same is true of their respective trinitarian doctrines: the pitfall for the Latins to avoid has always been Monarchianism, i.e., excessive insistence on unity; for the Greeks, on the contrary, it has been tritheism, i.e., excessive insistence on distinction. The call to unity for the two "sister" churches arises from the very profundity of the mystery that we both venerate. In a fully achieved unity, each church would conform and make the other whole, preserving both from the risk to which each is exposed.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

The Trinity, Part II - Profound Peace and Unity

Icon of the Old Testament Trinity, c. 1410, Andrei Rublev

... all three are wearing blue garments as a sign of the divine nature they have in common. But on top of or underneath the blue garments, each one has a distincitive color: the Father, the angel to the left, has an indefinable color almost of pure light as a sign of his invisibility and inaccessibility. The Son, in the center, is wearing a dark tunic as a sign of the humanity with which he has clothed himself. The Holy Spirit, the angel to the right, wears a green mantle as a sign of life, since he is "the one who gives life." ...

One thing is especially striking as we contemplate Rublev's icon: the profound peace and unity that emanate from the whole. A silent cry comes forth from the icon: "Be one as we are one." The saint for whose monastery the icon was painted, St. Sergius of Radonezh, is known in Russian history for having brought unity among warring chieftains and for having thus made possible the liberation of Russia from the Tartars, who had invaded it. His motto was that "through the contemplation of the most Holy Trinity we can overcome the hateful divisions of this world."

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

The Trinity, Part I - In Eastern Spirituality

Icon of the Old Testament Trinity, c. 1410, Andrei Rublev

To get to the heart of Eastern and Western spirituality, we can take as our starting point the artistic representation of the Trinity that is the most typical for each of the two churches.

For the Orthodox Church, that would certainly be Rublev's icon of the Trinity...

One thing should be said immediately about this icon. It does not purport to directly represent the Trinity, which is, by definition, invisible and ineffable. Attempting to do so would be contrary to all the canons of Byzantine ecclesiastical iconography. Instead, it depicts the three angels who appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (see Genesis 18:1-15). In that tradition, before and after Rublev, Abraham, Sarah, the calf and an oak tree often appear. This episode, in fact, is read by the patristic tradition as an early prefigurement of the Trinity. The icon is one of the artistic forms that follow a spiritual reading of the Bible. It is, thus, not the atemporal Trinity that is represented, but the Trinity in salvation history.

All the experts agree that Rublev's icon is the zenith of all iconographic art in terms of its power for theological synthesis, its richness of symbols, and its artistic beauty. It conveys the very rhythm of trinitarian life. Unceasing motion and superhuman stillness, transcendence and condescendence, are simultaneously represented.

The dogma of the unity and trinity of God is expressed by the fact that the three Persons represented are distinct but closely resemble each other. They are contained within a circle that highlights their unity. They are contained within a circle that highlights their unity, but their diverse motions and postures speak of their differences.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

I know so little about looking at art that this was a revelation not only for the concept of the Trinity but also for the way to examine what the artist was communicating. More to come in Part II.

The Mystery of the Holy Trinity

I wrote this for a past series of bulletin inserts. Holy Trinity Sunday is approaching and since trying to wrap one's brain around the concept of the Trinity is so difficult for me, I thought that y'all might like this too.

The Mystery of the Holy Trinity

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Blessed Trinity. This, the ineffable mystery of God's intimate life, is the central truth of our faith and the source of all gifts and graces. The liturgy of the Mass invites us to loving union with each of the Three Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This feast was established for the Latin Church by Pope John XXII, to be celebrated on the Sunday after the coming of the Holy Spirit, which is the last of the mysteries of our salvation. Today we can say many times, savoring it, the prayer: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

[St. Teresa] writes: Once when I was reciting the "Quicumque vult," I was shown so clearly how it was possible for there to be one God alone and three Persons that it caused me both amazement and much comfort. It was of the greatest help to me in teaching me to know more of the greatness of God and of his marvels. When I think of the most Holy Trinity, or hear it spoken of, I seem to understand how there can be such a mystery, and it is a great joy to me.

The whole of a Christian's supernatural life is directed towards this knowledge of and intimate conversation with the Trinity, who become eventually the fruit and the end of our whole life (St. Thomas). It is for this end that we have been created and raised to the supernatural order: to know, to talk to and to love God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who dwell in the soul in grace.

In Conversation With God Vol 6
Special Feasts: January - June

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Trinity Sunday celebrates the most profound mystery of our faith: The Holy Trinity, the presence of God as Three in One. It is called a mystery not because it is a puzzle that we attempt to solve, but because it is a reality above our human comprehension. We may begin to grasp it intellectually, but ultimately must accept that we can only know the Holy Trinity through worship, symbol, and faith. What a challenge this poses for the Christian believer who knows and accepts the Holy Trinity dwells in our soul in grace, but also calls us to a relationship with Him. How do we do this? In our limited state, how can we know and love a mystery?

We do this through the small daily actions we can take of meditating on instructions on the Faith and reciting prayers composed in honor of the Trinity. For instance, although we recite it so often that it tends to slide by our consciousness, the Glory Be invites grace into our souls when we pray:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

Certainly, we cannot hope to know the Holy Trinity unless God himself reaches out to us first and helps us along the way. Making ourselves open to God and raising our hearts to Him in petition, we can join in this prayer:

My Lord and my God, my only hope, hear my prayer so that I may not give in to discouragement and cease to seek you. May I desire always to see your face. Give me strength for the search. You who caused me to find you and gave the hope of a more perfect knowledge of you, I place before you my steadfastness, that you may preserve it, and my weakness, that you may heal it. I place before you my knowledge, and my ignorance. If you open the door to me, welcome the one who enters. If you have closed the gate, open it to the one who calls. Make me always remember you, understand you and love you. Increase those gifts in me until I am completely changed.

When we come into your presence, these many things we talk about now without understanding them will cease, and you alone will remain everything in everyone, and then we will sing as one an eternal hymn of praise and we too will become one with you.

St. Augustine, De Trinitate, 15, 28, 51