Sunday 30 May 2010

May 17th - Trinity Sunday


The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity is a double feast. It is also the first Sunday after Pentecost.

The feast began yesterday with first Vespers on Saturday afternoon. The Office is proper with the antiphons Gloria tibi Trinitas etc sung with Pss. 101, 110, 111, 112 and 116. The chapter, O altitudo, and hymn, O lux beata Trinitas, will be used at Vespers on Saturdays for all the Sundays after Pentecost. The antiphon on the Magnificat, Gratias tibi, Deus etc, and the collect, Omnipotens, are proper. A commemoration was sung of the first Sunday after Pentecost. After Vespers the antiphon Salve Regina is sung for the first time this year.

At Mattins there are three nocturns. The invitatory is proper, Deum verum, unum in Trinitate, et Trinitatm in Unitate, Venite adoremus. The hymn is Summae Deus clementiae. In the first nocturn the antiphons Adesto unus Deus etc are sung with psalms 8, 18 & 23. The lessons are taken from the sixth chapter of the Prophet Isaiah. These are identical to those found in the 'modern' books. In the second nocturn the antiphons Te invocamus etc are sung with psalms 46, 47 & 51. The lessons are taken from the Book of Bishop Fulgentius on faith. The fourth lesson continues with Si enim, sicut et Patris...veraciter Trinitas diceretur. The fifth lesson begins Rursus quidem Trinitas...and continues Per hanc unitatem...totus quoque Spiritus Sanctus in Patre et Filio. The sixth lesson begins Nullus horum and continues past the ending found in the 'modern' editions with three more sentences Sicut ergo...est trium personarum divinitas. In the third nocturn the antiphons Caritas Pater est etc are sung with psalms 95, 96 & 97. The lessons are from a homily of St. Gregory Nazianzen. These are again slightly longer than those found in the 'modern' editions. The seventh lesson continues Nec extensionem...atque potentiae credimus. The eighth lesson begins Et ideo unum... and continues Sic est Apostolus...per quem omnia et nos per ipsum. The ninth lesson is of the first Sunday after Pentecost, it ends slightly before the version in 'modern' editions with Ego sum panis vivus, qui de caelo descendi? The Te Deum is sung.

At Lauds the antiphons Gloria tibi Trinitas are sung with the Dominical psalms 92, 99, 62-66, Benedicite, 148-149-150. The Office hymn is Tu, Trinitatis Unitas. A commemoration of the first Sunday after Pentecost is sung.

At Prime the festal psalms are sung (53, 118i & 118ii). The Creed of St. Athanasius, Quicumque, is sung after the last stanza of Ps. 118.

Mass is sung after Terce. Before Mass at the sprinkling of lustral water the antiphon Asperges me returns. The Mass is proper, Benedicta sit. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday, the Credo is sung, the common preface is sung, and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

In second Vespers a commemoration of the first Sunday after Pentecost is sung.

Art: Rublev's Icon from Wikipedia, the Hospitality of Abraham iterpreted as a symbol of the Trinity.

5 comments:

  1. Rubricarius, was the Feast of the Holy Trinity always fixed to the Sunday? I have in mind the existence of the Mass Proper for the First Sunday after Pentecost...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Rubricarius,
    Going through your earlier posts this is what I found:
    ----------------------------------------------
    In a wider sense the 'ethos' of the Tridentine rite lasted until the Breviary was overhauled in 1911-13 and the Missal in 1955.
    26 MARCH 2010 10:26
    -----------------------------------------------
    In what way did the 'ethos' of the Tridentine Rite disappear after 1955?

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous,

    1) Loss of the Tridentine Holy Week rites.

    2) Loss of the majority of Octaves and Vigils

    3) Loss of the principle of first Vespers beginning the liturgical day.

    4) Loss of the Tridentine rubrics on the 'accessory' orations of the Season.

    Four examples, there are many more. I was probably too generous in the statement you quote. Although the Missal was less affected by the 1911-13 reforms the distinction between Sundays and Feasts was lost in that reform.

    However, there is still an 'ethos' of the old rite in the post-1920 Missal that was lost after the reforms of Pius XII.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Rubricarius,
    Thank you very much for this information. Now this is a personal question. Don't you think that Traditional Catholic oongregations like the SGG, CMRI, SPV, those in Argentina and Mexico, and like minded independent Traditional Catholic priests should revert to the pre-1911 Breviary and Missal, or does Church Law prevent them from doing so? Or can they do this under " Quo Primum"?.
    I think this important issue should be settled as soon as possible, don't you?

    Thank you again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Anonymous,

    A monosyllabic answer: Yes.

    ReplyDelete