Traditional Catholic Teaching - Appendix

Appendix to Supplement A: Lesson 8

Appendix: The Holy Trinity and Us

Readings from "Divine Intimacy" by
Fr. Gabriel OCD (Tan Books 1996).

In the Presence of The Trinity

Consideration of the mystery of the Trinity inspires us not only with an attitude of humble reverence and blind faith but also with one of deep filial love. "This is the characteristic of friendship," says St. Thomas, "that the friend confides his secrets to another." This is also characteristic of the love of God for us, because by revealing to us the mystery of the Trinity, He has unveiled to us the secret of His intimate life, toward which we had no right to turn our gaze. If we had no other proof of the love of friendship which God has for us, the revelation of this mystery would be more than enough to convince us of it. He has confided to us the secrets of His Heart; He has opened to us the mystery of His personal life and has admitted us into intimacy with Himself. All this justly strengthens our conviction of the exceeding charity with which God has loved us, especially since, not being satisfied to reveal this mystery, the three Persons of the glorious Trinity willed to give Themselves to us as well! The Father gave Himself to us by bringing us into existence and by sacrificing His only begotten Son for our salvation; the Son gave Himself to us by becoming Incarnate, by dying for us on the Cross and by making Himself our Food; the Holy Spirit gave Himself to us by coming to dwell in our souls, by infusing grace and charity in us. If the three divine Persons have offered Themselves to us to this degree, it is to elevate us to the status of sons and to bring us, as sons, into Their divine family.

All through the Gospels we see the entire Trinity bending over man to redeem him and to make him share in Their divine nature and eternal beatitude. We see the Father enveloping us in His paternal mercy and providence; the Son becoming man and shedding His Blood for us; the Holy Spirit sanctifying our souls by filling them with grace and love

Yes, in the presence of the Trinity, we always remain tiny creatures, infinitely distant from the divine Majesty; yet, the Trinity has stooped to us and drawn us, loving us with an eternal love. "In caritate perpetua dilexi te, ideo attraxi te miserans tui" I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee (Jer. 31: 3).

I beseech you, O Blessed Trinity, come to me and make me a temple worthy of Your glory. I pray to the Father through the Son, and to the Son through the Father; I pray to the Holy Spirit through the Father and the Son, to take away all my vices and to implant all the virtues in me: (St. Augustine).

Living With the Trinity

1. If we wish the great gift of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity to bear its full fruit of intimate friendship with the three divine Persons, we must become accustomed to living with the Trinity, since it is impossible to have a real bond of friendship with someone if, after offering him the hospitality of our home, we immediately forget him. In order to live with the Trinity, it is not necessary to feel God's presence within us, this is a grace which He may give or withhold. It is sufficient to be grounded in the faith by which we know with certitude that the three divine Persons are dwelling within us. By relying on this reality which we cannot see, feel, or understand, but which we know with certainty because it has been revealed by God, we can direct ourselves toward a life of true union with the Blessed Trinity.

First, we should consider the three divine Persons present within us, in Their indivisible unity. We already know that everything done by the Trinity "ad extra," that is, outside the Godhead, is the work of all three divine Persons without distinction, hence, this applies to Their action in our soul. All Three dwell equally in us. They are there simultaneously and They all produce the same effects in us. All Three diffuse grace and love in us; They enlighten us; offer us Their friendship and love us with one and the same love. Still this does not prevent each of Them from being present in our soul with the characteristics proper to His Person: the Father is there as the source and origin of the divinity and of all being; the Word is present as the splendor of the Father, as light; the Holy Spirit, as the fruit of the love of the Father and of the Son. Each divine Person, then, loves us in His own personal way and offers us His special gift. The Father offers us His most sweet paternity; the Son clothes us with His shining light; the Holy Spirit penetrates us with His ardent love. And we, insignificant creatures, should try to realize that we have such great gifts, so that we may fully profit by them.

2. You may have special relations with each of the three divine Persons, relations which correspond to Their particular characteristics. When you think of the Father, you will feel a need to live close to Him like a loving and devoted child, trying to please Him in all things, and desiring to do His will alone. At the same time, especially in moments of difficulty and anguish, you will hasten to take refuge in Him, finding in His omnipotence, His greatness and infinite goodness, a support and a remedy for your insufficiency, littleness and wretchedness.

When you contemplate the Word present in your soul, you will have the desire to allow yourself to be penetrated by His light, to be taught by Him who is the Word of the Father, that He may bring you to a true knowledge of the divine mysteries, and show you how to judge everything as God does. You will feel the need of seeking Him in His Incarnation where you find Him more accessible to your humanity, of taking refuge in His Redemption by which He gives you life, makes Himself your Brother and presents you to the Father as His child.

When you consider the Holy Spirit, the delightful fruit of the love of the Father and the Son, a more ardent desire will arise in you to assist His work of love in your soul; therefore, you will be willing to follow His inspirations with more docility; you will let yourself be guided by Him in all things and, finally, you will allow yourself to be seized by His divine motion, so that He can bring you with Himself into the bosom of the Father and the Son.

In this way you will realize in yourself that very lofty end for which God has created and redeemed us, that is, " that our fellowship may be with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn. 1: 3). This will not be accomplished through your own merits but only through the infinite merits of Christ, who has shared with you His glory as the Son of God, who has made you participate in the love with which the Father loves Him, who has given you His Spirit, and has become your Food in order to nourish your life of union with the Most Holy Trinity in the most direct manner possible.

The Trinity Within Us

1. Jesus came not only to reveal the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, but also to establish ties of the closest friendship between our souls and the three divine Persons. He is not only the Revealer of the Trinity, but the Mediator, the Way, the Bridge, leading us to the Triune God and uniting us with Him.

God dwells in a soul in the state of grace as friend delighting to be with friend, conversing with him in sweet familiarity. "Behold," says the Lord, "I stand at the gate and knock; if any man shall hear My voice and open to Me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me " (Ap 3: 20).

2. If we are in the state of grace, God not only dwells in us, but since He is the living God, He lives in us: He lives His intimate life, the life of the Trinity. The Father is living in us, continually generating His Son; the Father and the Son are living in us, and from Them the Holy Spirit unceasingly proceeds. Our soul is the little heaven where this magnificent divine life, the life of the Blessed Trinity, is always unfolding. Why do the three divine Persons live in us, if not to give us a share in Their life, bringing us into this endless stream of divine life?

The Father begets His Son in us and gives Him to us in order to make us share in His divine Sonship, to make us His adopted child; and He does this because of His only-begotten Son who became incarnate for us. The Father and the Son breathe forth the Holy Spirit within our soul, and give Him to us, so that He who is the terminus and bond of Their love and union, may also be the bond of our love and union with Them.

The divine Persons are within us; we receive Them and participate in Their divine life through faith and charity. By faith we believe in Them, by charity we are united to Them. When we are one with the Father, He receives us into His paternal embrace, sustains us by His almighty power, and draws us with Himself to contemplate and love His Son, according to the words of Jesus Himself: "No man can come to Me except the Father draw him" (Jn 6: 44). When we are joined to the Son, He clothes us with His splendor, penetrates us with His infinite light, teaches us to know the Father, and covers us with the merits He acquired for us by becoming Incarnate. He takes us with Him to love and praise the, Father, thus verifying His word: "No man cometh to the Father but by Me"(ibid. 14: 6).

When we are united with the Holy Spirit. He infuses within us the grace of the adoption of the children of God, and pours into our soul an ever-increasing participation in the divine life. He thus draws us with Him into an ever more intimate communion with the Father and the Son, so that, as Jesus said, we may be "made perfect in one" (ibid. 17: 23).

Effusion Of The Trinity In The Soul

1. At the very moment of our Baptism, the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity take up Their abode in our soul. Yet the Church teaches us in the "Veni, Sancte Spiritus," Come, Holy Spirit, to ask continually for the coming of the Holy Spirit and consequently, of the Blessed Trinity; for, by reason of Their indivisible unity, no one of the three divine Persons comes to us without the others. But, if the three Divine Persons are within us already, how can They come again. A soul needs to have only a single degree of grace in order to have God — who is already present in it as Creator — present also as Friend, inviting it to live in intimacy with Himself. However, this friendship, this intimacy, has different degrees. It becomes closer and more profound according as the soul, growing in grace and charity, acquires a greater capacity for entering into a deeper relationship with the Blessed Trinity. Something similar is effected between two persons who are friends, and who live in the same house. When their mutual affection increases, their friendship becomes more intense; thus, although they were already present to each other, their reciprocal presence takes on a new aspect, one that is proper to the presence of a very dear friend. Likewise, the Trinity already inhabits the souls of the just, but the presence of the divine Persons can always be made stronger in terms of a more intimate affection; that is to say, They can always enter into deeper relations of friendship with the soul. This is realized progressively as the soul acquires additional degrees of grace by advancing in charity.
Since these new effusions of the Trinity in the souls of the just present aspects and produce effects which are always new, we can rightly call them new comings, new visits of the divine Persons. But, in reality, They are always present in the soul; Their visit does not come from without but from within the soul itself, where They dwell and give Themselves; and even, to a certain degree, reveal Themselves to the soul according to the words of Jesus: He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him" (Jn 14: 21). Never are we given a better opportunity to understand the great reality contained in the words of the Gospel: "The kingdom of God is within you" (Lk 17: 21), than when we are in the presence of this ineffable mystery.

2. The first visit or effusion of the Blessed Trinity in our soul took place on the day of our Baptism. The Father sent us His Son; the Father and the Son sent us the Holy Spirit, and because of the indissoluble unity of the Three, without being sent the Father Himself came. Now this visit is renewed every time we acquire an additional degree of grace — through the reception of a Sacrament or by advancing in charity. The promise of Jesus: "If anyone love Me. . . We will come to him and will make Our abode with him" (Jn 14: 23), is never exhausted; it is always new, always ready to be actualized every time the conditions for it are renewed, that is, every time we love more intensely. This divine gift which is offered so generously to us, ought to spur us on to generosity and to constant progress in love, for only thus can we have full fruition of it. The Blessed Trinity will set no limits to the effusion of charity and grace in our soul, provided we place no obstacle to their development. Our horizon is broad and boundless, because the model proposed to us by Jesus for our life of union with the Blessed Trinity, is that very union that exists between the three divine Persons Themselves. Even in His priestly prayer on the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus asked His Father to give us a like union: "As Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may he one in Us" (ibid. 17: 21). It is evident that as creatures we can never be united to the Trinity as the three divine Persons are united to one another; yet, Jesus did not hesitate to offer us, and to ask for us, a similar union, in order to urge us on to ever higher levels, and to make us understand that if we do not fail in our correspondence to grace, the three Persons of the Holy Trinity will never cease to diffuse Themselves into our souls nor to unite us to Themselves until we are made "perfect in one" (ibid. 17: 23).

Only in heaven where we shall contemplate the Trinity unveiled, face to face, will our union with the divine Persons be perfect; but here on earth, we must hasten by faith and love toward the wonderful goal which will be our happiness for all eternity.

Two Saints Adoring The Holy Trinity

"O holy Father, by that love with which You cast on me a reflection of the light of Your countenance, give me grace to advance in You by holiness and virtue.

"O my Lord Jesus Christ, by the love which induced you to redeem me with Your Blood, clothe me with the purity of Your most holy life.

"O divine Paraclete! You, whose power equals Your holiness, by the love which made You bind me to Yourself, grant me the grace to love You with my whole heart, to adhere to You with my whole soul, and to use all my strength to love and serve You, so that I may live according to Your inspirations."

(St Gertrude 12th Century)

"O Trinity, most high God, merciful, beneficent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, my hope is in You. Teach me, direct me, sustain me.

"O Father, by Your infinite power, fix my memory in You and fill it with holy and divine thoughts.

"O Son, enlighten my intellect with Your eternal wisdom, give me the knowledge of Your supreme truth and of my wretchedness.

"O Holy Spirit, Love of the Father and the Son, by Your incomprehensible goodness, draw my will to Yourself and inflame it with the fire of Your charity which can never be extinguished.

(St Albert the Great 13th Century)

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