Poem: Trinity Sunday

Fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Trinity Sunday is by George Herbert (1593–1633). It was published posthumously in 1633 as part of the collection, The Temple and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).

TRINITY SUNDAY by George Herbert, 1633 (Public Domain)

Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,
       And hast redeem’d me through thy blood,
       And sanctifi’d me to do good;

Purge all my sins done heretofore:
       For I confess my heavy score,
       And I will strive to sin no more.

Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
       With faith, with hope, with charity;
       That I may run, rise, rest with thee.

Father Most Holy, Gracious and Forgiving

Fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Father Most Holy, Gracious and Forgiving was written by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox (1888 - 1957).  In the Divine Office (1974) it is sung at Morning Prayer on Trinity Sunday. The Divine Office recommends the tune: Theophila, for it's musical setting. An alternative tune that can also be used is Christe Sanctorum, as featured in the following video.


Alternative Tune: Christe Sanctorum

Liturgical Guide: Trinity Sunday

The hymns used in the Liturgy of the Hours for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity reflect the theme of the ineffable mystery of God. John Paul II stated in a homily given at a Mexican Seminary in 1979, that "our God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family, which is love." In his video series: Catholicism, Bishop Robert Barron picks up on John Paul's words of interpersonal love within the Godhead to describe the Trinity as the "Lover, the Beloved, and their shared love." He goes on by quoting from Book IX of De Trinitate in which St. Augustine presents the image of the Trinity as "Mind, Self Knowledge, and Self Love". And finally Bishop Barron suggests that even our own struggle to fully grasp and describe the Trinity points to the mystery, not unlike Benedict XVI's analogy of the incense we use at Mass as a symbol of the ineffable.



LITURGY OF THE HOURS (1975)
131. All Hail, Adorèd Trinity / Ave Colenda Trinitas
132. Holy, Holy, Holy
133. Come Thou Almighty King

DIVINE OFFICE (1974)
Father Most Holy
Firmly I Believe and Truly

Come Thou Almighty King

Come and Reign Over Us, Ancient of Days

Come Thou Almighty King is an anonymous work set to music by Italian composer and violinist, Felice de Giardini (1716-1796). While living in England, he was commissioned by Lady Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon to turn the poem into a hymn. The tune he composed is known both as the Italian Hymn and Moscow, the city where the once famous Giardini spent his final days living in poverty and obscurity. His hymn was published in Martin Madan's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes of 1769. Selina Hastings (1707–1791) was prominent in the religious revival of the 18th century in England and Wales. She used her wealth and influence to support various evangelical efforts and even founded a a Christian denomination, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. In the Liturgy of the Hours, Come, Thou Almighty King is used on Trinity Sunday and for Mid-Afternoon Prayer during Ordinary Time.



COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING, Anonymous (Public Domain)

 1. Come, Thou almighty King,
Help us Thy name to sing,
Help us to praise!
Father all glorious,
O'er all victorious,
Come and reign over us,
Ancient of days!

 2. Come, Thou incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy mighty sword,
Our prayer attend!
Come, and Thy people bless,
And give Thy word success:
Spirit of holiness,
On us descend!

 3. Come, Holy Comforter,
Thy sacred witness bear,
In this glad hour!
Thou, who almighty art,
Now rule in ev'ry heart,
And ne'er from us depart,
Spirit of pow'r!

 4. To the great One in Three,
Eternal praises be hence evermore;
Thy sovereign majesty
May we in glory see,
And to eternity
Love and adore.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Our Song Shall Rise to Thee

Holy, Holy, Holy was written by Reginald Heber (1783-1826). He composed this Trinity Sunday hymn in Hodnet, in the west of England, where he served as Vicar from 1807 to 1823. He left there when he was appointed the Bishop of Calcutta, India. He died 3 years later while in service to that Diocese. The photo to the left is of St. Paul's Cathedral in Calcutta (Kolkata). Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! is sung to the 1861 tune, Nicaea by Anglican Clergyman, John B. Dykes (1823-1876). The tune was written specifically for Heber's text, and purposely named after the Council of Nicaea where the Church defended and affirmed the Apostles' teaching of the Trinity. In the Liturgy of the Hours, Holy Holy, Holy is used on Trinity Sunday.



HOLY, HOLY, HOLY by Reginald Heber, 1826 (Public Domain)

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

All Hail, Adorèd Trinity / Ave Colenda Trinitas

All Praise Eternal Unity

All Hail, Adored Trinity is a 1852 translation by John David Chambers (1803-1893) of the anonymous Anglo-Saxon Latin hymn, Ave, Colenda Trinitas (see 2nd video). Historic manuscripts show that Ave Co­len­da Trin­i­tas was in use in England prior to the Norman Invasion of 1066. It may have been an Office Hymn of the Sarum Rite used at Salisbury Cathedral. All Hail, Adored Trinity is set to the tune, Old Hundredth (Doxology) by Louis Bourgeois (c. 1510-1561) from the Genevan Psalter of 1551. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used on Trinity Sunday and for Mid-Afternoon Prayer during Ordinary Time.



ALL HAIL, ADORÈD TRINITY by John Chandler, 1857 (Public Domain)

All hail, adorèd Trinity;
All hail, eternal Unity;
O God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, ever One.

Behold to Thee, this festal day,
We meekly pour our thankful lay;
O let our work accepted be,
That sweetest work of praising Thee.

Three Persons praise we evermore,
One only God our hearts adore;
In Thy sure mercy ever kind
May we our true protection find.

O Trinity! O Unity!
Be present as we worship Thee;
And with the songs that angels sing
Unite the hymns of praise we bring.



AVE COLENDA TRINITAS, Anonymous (Public Domain)

Ave, colenda Trinitas;
ave, perennis unitas,
Pater Deus, Nate Deus,
et Deus alme Spiritus.

Haec tibi nunc gratuita
depromimus praeconia,
quae tibi sint gratissima
et nobis saluberrima.

Te trinum semper laudamus
atque unum adoramus:
tuae dulcis clementiae
sentiamus munimina.

O Trinitas, O Unitas,
adesto supplicantibus
et angelorum laudibus
admitte quod persolvimus.