Bishops Note: May 26, 2016 – The Holy Trinity

Bishop Eric Menees

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The opening collect on Trinity Sunday was placed in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer by Archbishop Cranmer, and read: “Almighty and everlasting God, which has given unto us thy servants grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the divine Majesty to worship the Unity: we beseech thee, that through the steadfastness of this faith, we may evermore be defended from all adversity, which livest and reignest one God, world without end. Amen.”

Of course, ultimately, the Holy Trinity is a mystery of faith which cannot be fully understood by the human mind, but may be fully submitted and yielded unto. Throughout history, poets and artists have celebrated the Holy Trinity and given us an insight into that mystery, even if we cannot fully understand it. I ran across this piece of prose this week by Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity – a Carmelite Nun who lived but twenty six years, and yet left a lasting impact.

O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from you, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of your mystery ! Pacify my soul! Make it your heaven, your beloved home and place of your repose; let me never leave you there alone, but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith, ever adoring and all given up to your creative action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, would that I might be for you a spouse of your heart! I would anoint you with glory, I would love you - even unto death! Yet I sense my frailty and ask you to adorn me with yourself; identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, submerge me, overwhelm. me, substitute yourself in me that my life may become but a reflection of your life. Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Saviour.

O Eternal Word, Word of my God, would that I might spend my life listening to you, would that I might be fully receptive to learn all from you; in all darkness, all loneliness, all weakness, may I ever keep my eyes fixed on you and abide under your great light; O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that I may never be able to leave your radiance.

O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, descend into my soul and make all in me as an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to him a super-added humanity wherein he renews his mystery; and you O Father, bestow yourself and bend down to your little creature, seeing in her only your beloved Son in whom you are well pleased.

O my `Three', my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in whom I lose myself, I give myself to you as a prey to be consumed; enclose yourself in me that I may be absorbed in you so as to contemplate in your light the abyss of your Splendour!

Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906)

I pray you all a very blessed week

Catechism Questions: 289-291

289. Where do you learn about the holiness of time?
In creation, through the sun, moon, and stars; in the Law, through Israel’s sacrificial calendar; and in the Church’s liturgy, patterned after Temple worship, I learn that time belongs to God and is ordered by him. (Genesis 1:14-15; Numbers 28:9-10; Deuteronomy 16-18)

290. Did Jesus keep the Sabbath?
As its Lord, Jesus both kept and fulfilled the Sabbath. (Matthew 5:17-20; Mark 2:23-27)

291. How does Jesus bring Sabbath as God’s eternal gift to you?
Jesus now offers himself as the source of my true rest—from the slavery of sin, from the wasteland of human striving, and from Satan’s legacy of futile toil, pain, disease, and death. (Matthew 11:25-30)