Praying the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

Tradescantia Occidentalis

 

God is one. But within God, in God's own inner life, there are three persons in relationship: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each possess the fullness of divine life simultaneously, without depriving the others. This vision of God as a divine community or family of persons changes everything for us. God is no static divinity living off in isolation. In Baptism, we are immersed, soaked, flooded with this communal divine life. 

Here is my prayer for today's Feast of the Holy Trinity. The first line of the verse brings forward a word to describe the inner life of the one God who lives in a unity of persons.  The second line identifies something (even light-hearted) that we know comes in threes. The third line picks up the theme of three-ness and calls upon the relational God to bless, protect and transform some aspect of our weary world. 

The relationship of the Holy Trinity

of the three-petaled flower,

of the three-lobed leaf,

be over our climate changing planet

in need of the rescue

only we can offer —

when hearts are converted to the 

treasuring of life.

The harmony of the Holy Trinity

of red, white and blue,

be over this nation,

harming,

even killing itself

with hatred,

addiction,

weaponization

and suspicious fear.

The company of the Holy Trinity

of the a-b-c to x-y-z

be over our successes and failures.

giving insight and energy

to begin again, 

and yet again.

The household of the Holy Trinity

of breakfast, lunch and dinner

be over our world,

hungry with drought

and subsequent famine,

where food resources are stolen,

where divides between richest and poorest widen

and children remain unfed.

The community of the Holy Trinity

of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place,

be over the nations

of consuming privilege

and those who have nothing —

barely the scraps.

The society of the Holy Trinity

of solid, liquid, gas

the three states of matter

be over the human family 

in all its variety

races, colors and kinds,

genders and life-paths.

May we learn to love one another.

The fellowship of the Holy Trinity

of left, right, center

be over us,

sorely divided —

tricked by media talking heads

who sow division,

suspicion and

fear.

The friendship of the Holy Trinity

of positive, negative, neutral

be over our minds

freeing us from compassion-less thinking —

blessing us with the expansive mind of Christ 

which leaves no one excluded,

un-loved.

The intimacy of the Holy Trinity

of morning, noon and night

be over this new day

in whatever comes my way —

delighting me,

testing me,

inviting me. 

The family of the Holy Trinity

of  red, blue and yellow

the primary colors for mixing,

be over our families in their complexity,

their variety,

their struggling.

The circle of the Holy Trinity

of red, blue and green,

the primary colors of light

be over the church

wherever it is threatened by darkness  —                        

from within,

from without,

where love has yet to triumph.

Preparing for the Feast of the Holy Trinity

 

This coming Sunday, June 12, is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. There'll be a prayer for the Feast Day itself, but I'd like to bring forward the posts from some time ago which proposed to teach us about the Old Testament Icon of the Holy Trinity (seen here) painted by St. Andre Rublev. 

On the far right of this blog page you'll see a number of bullet points that link us to other collected posts that have been presented since Pauca Verba's start in March of 2013. The 5th bullet point reads simply, The Trinity Icon. Click on that and a number of other links open which reflect upon some aspect of the icon. You might be interested in exploring that a bit in anticipation of Sunday's Feast.

Mary's (and our) Mystical Participation in the Holy Trinity

Roses are perhaps the most popular flower — surely the best known flower, the most loved flower. The Litany of Loreto calls Mary, Mystical Rose. For Catholics, mystical doesn't mean faraway, out of reach rose, but rose so close, we might well miss the meaning. Before the Protestant Reformation, the rose was called Mary's Mystical Participation in the Holy Trinity. That's a mouthful.

Late Medieval paintings often show Mary sitting inside the Holy Trinity — the Father and the Son placing a crown on Mary's head, the Spirit with wings spread, floating above. Carl Jung considered the 1950 declaration of Mary's Assumption to be the most important religious event of the 20th century — that Mary's Assumption, and her taking her place within the Trinity, restored the feminine aspect to God's inner life. Some even suggest that Mary's stepping into the Trinity turned God's inner life into a more complete quaternity.  

We don't need to dissect that. Sufficient here to think about the rose itself. The roses pictured here are bunching. Not like the hybridized, forced, long stem, single roses we pay big money for at Valentines Day. These more wild roses are abundant and kind of overflowing — like Mary's yes! and the fullness of her life lived in nearness to Christ. And that after all, is what Christianity is supposed to be, isn't it? Not a dogma book, not an ethical system, but a fragrant encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ, who patterns for me my own life, lived abundantly, uniquely and beautifully.

But notice as well — at the far right, bottom half of the photo, there is a spent rose. The petals have faded and fallen off, making room for the newer opening buds. To live that abundant Christ-life: "I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness." John 10:10 something old has to be allowed to fade off or drop away. What might that mean? From time to time, do I hear myself saying, "I used to think that way, but I don't anymore." "I used to act that way, but I don't anymore." 

What a pity — a life lived religiously, that doesn't change and evolve — that's lived like everyone else.

Holy Trinity ~ Unity Born of Love

Abbess Catherine ~ Dame Phillipa ~ Dame Agnes

Holy Trinity is the Christian doctrine that there is one God, and within God's inner life there is a community of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God exists in fellowship, relationship, family, friendship. And in Baptism we are flooded and immersed in that divine related-ness. Chrisitianiy is not a trip for isolators.

Trinity celebrates God's unity. It is a unity born of love. We could do with a good bit of that in our hyper-divided country these days. And this unity born-of-love doesn't happen because we take a course in it, or join a religious order with rules, or even practice good deeds. It happens in us when we realize that the Father's love for the Son, and the Son's love for the Father, dwells in us - it is God's gift to us and exists outside of institutions.

Love is surrendering self-interest for the good of the other. Love actively makes good happen for others. Love is tenderness which word comes from the Latin tendere which means to stretch. To love others is to have our hearts stretched. It is the work put before us. It's bigger than just being nice, kind, helpful or sweet. Dostoyevski writes that love in action is a dreadful thing. We needn't be discouraged, only steady.

Rumor Godden wrote the novel In this House of Brede in 1969. In 1975 the story was adapted for television staring Diana Rigg. In the  adaptation, Philippa Talbot is a war widow and a sophisticated London business woman. After suffering a terrible family tragedy, she enters Brede Abbey, an English Benedictine convent of enclosed nuns.

The abbess, who was a loving and encouraging friend to Philippa, dies the first night Philippa arrives as a postulant. Dame Catherine comes to Philippa's room to tell her of the news and to summon her to the Abbess' bedside. Dame Agnes is in the room. She is Phillipa's nemesis - a bitter, suspicious, jealous nun who doesn't think Phillipa should have ever been accepted into the convent and who subsequently makes life difficult for her. 

Dame Catherine is elected the new abbess. After her installation, Philipa goes to Catherines' office for a private conversation. Here's the most important part of that conversation.

Philippa: I can't tell you how pleased I was when I heard it was you and not Dame Agnes. It's good to know I have a special friend in these rooms again.

Catherine: There's only one special friend here in this house, or any other. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy mind." This is the first and great commandment.

Philippa: This is my commandment: "That ye love one another as I have loved you."

Catherine: "As I have loved you." That says it all, doesn't it? Because he loves us equally, all in the same degree.

Philippa: Can you do that - care for all of us equally without any sort of natural preference?

Catherine: I must. It is my duty.

Philippa: And must I be as fond of Dame Agnes as I am of you -Dame Agnes, and all those chattering girls in the novitiate?

Catherine: If only  you could.

Philippa:  (long pause) I can't.

Catherine: I said, "If only you could." It would be quite something wouldn't it?

Intercessions ~ Feast of the Holy Trinity

Today we pray for fathers who are away from their families,/ who are negligent,/ addicted,/ unemployed,/ or struggling against great obstacles./ We pray for our own fathers and grandfathers/ living or deceased./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the nation/ which is frayed with anger and animosity./ Grant to the President,/ Congress and those who seek public office,/ a fresh desire to promote healing and reconciliation./ We pray to the Lord.

Our poor planet,/ the people,/ the plants and animals,/ the ground itself,/ is so burdened by exploitation and waste./ Grant us the loving hearts of good stewards./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the nations of the world where there is war,/ where citizens are afraid or degraded,/ where leadership fails to serve,/ where the children are caught in the awful choices of adults who should love them./ We pray to the Lord. 

For the sick,/ the frail,/ the broken-hearted,/ the imprisoned,/ the poor and vulnerable./ For the people who feel they are losing ground or going under,/ who fear they can no longer hold on./ We pray to the Lord.

In the face of all the pressures and disappointments,/ may we be given gifts of courage./ Preserve us from cynicism and despair./ Keep us from hurting others./ We pray to the Lord.