Trinity Sunday: A Few Traditions and Links | The Homely Hours
The Collect for Trinity Sunday
“Almighty and everlasting God, who hast 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 thou wouldest keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.”
Source: Trinity Sunday: A Few Traditions and Links | The Homely Hours
Today is the Feast of the Holy Trinity: Trinity Sunday. While arguably the only feast day in the Church's calendar to celebrate a doctrine, rather than a person or an episode in the life of Christ, in fact Trinity Sunday celebrates three Persons: the Holy Trinity itself, one God in trinity of Persons, but unity of Substance. This doctrine is at root a Holy Mystery, as is the Incarnation itself; yet it is, with the Incarnation, one of the two core doctrines of Christianity.
In an effort to explain its reality and significance, The Homely Hours points us to
"a beautiful post on Celtic Christianity and Trinitarian Theology, specifically how it manifests itself in the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic hymns and prayers:
For the Gaelic writers, the Trinity is not an esoteric dogma to be recited and systematized but rather a living and lived reality, for God as Creator is near to us in creation, and all that he has made is a reflection of his power and his goodness. The triune life of the Three is not confined to the gates of heaven but spills overflowing onto earth, where those who call for aid find peace and rest in the divine communion. The Trinity is near to us in every aspect of our lives, and in the love of the Three we are complete and healed from our brokenness:
In nearness to the Trinity farewell to all my pains, Christ stands before me, and peace is in his mind.
(Carmina Gadelica, 346, p. 312)
"You can also read more on Trinity Sunday at Full Homely Divinity:
As early as the ninth century, the first Sunday after Pentecost was being observed in some places as a day particularly devoted to celebrating our trinitarian faith in one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, the observance was far from universal and one pope even dismissed it as an unnecessary observance since every act of worship is offered in the Name of the Trinity. In 1162, Thomas Becket was ordained to the Priesthood on Ember Saturday in Whitsun week. On the next day, he was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. As Archbishop and Metropolitan, he obtained for all of England the privilege of celebrating the Sunday after Whitsunday as Trinity Sunday. After his martyrdom in 1170, and subsequent canonization, his shrine in Canterbury became one of the most important pilgrimage shrines in all of Europe and the popularity of Trinity Sunday also spread. In the 14th century Pope John XXII added Trinity Sunday to the calendar of the whole Western Church. For many centuries, the Sundays after Paschaltide were counted as “Sundays after Trinity,” and the season was known as “Trinitytide.”
And for those of us of a more traditional bent, of course, it still is.
See also:
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While usually associated (understandably) with St. Patrick's Day, the "Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick" – also known as "The Deer's Cry," or simply "I Bind Unto Myself This Day" – is also highly appropriate for Trinity Sunday, being a majestic and inspiring invocation of the Holy Trinity!
"I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three..."
Wishing everyone a holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity Sunday, and season of Trinitytide which follows, and will last until Advent brings us 'round again to the Cycles of Christ's Nativity, and later His Passion. May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – One God in Trinity of Persons and Unity of Essence – bless all who read this!