The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

The meaning of the celebration

+ A special feast in honor of the Most Holy Trinity was celebrated by the Benedictines in France prior to the year 1000.

+ Pope Alexander II (d. 1073) denied a request that this celebration be extended to the Universal Church, arguing that every liturgical celebration honors the Most Holy Trinity. More than one hundred fifty years later, 1334, however, Pope John XXII (d. 1334) finally chose to add this special feast to the calendar of the Church.

+ Celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity provides the faithful with an opportunity to look back on the Paschal Triduum and Easter Seasons to reflect on the work of salvation remembered in this holy days in the light of the mystery of the Trinity.

+ The liturgical readings for this solemnity (in each of the three cycles presented in the Lectionary) contain a rich treasure of proclamation and adoration, inviting us to declare: “Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: to God who is, who was, and who is to come” (Alleluia verse).

For prayer and reflection

“I tried to explain the mystery of the Trinity by saying that all human relationships are reflections of the relationships within God. God is the Lover, the Beloved, and the Love that bins us in unity. God invites us to be part of that inner movement of love so that we can truly become sons and daughters of the Father, sisters and brothers of the Son, and spouses of the Holy Spirit. Thus, all our human relationships can be lived in God, and as witness to God’s divine presence in our lives.”—Henri Nouwen in Sabbatical Journey

Prayer

God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.