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 the following video excerpt from the Catholicism series, Fr. Robert Barron picks up on Blessed 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". Ultimately though words fail us, Fr. Barron reminds us of Benedict XVI's analogy of the incense we use at Mass as a symbol of the ineffable mystery of God.



LITURGY OF THE HOURS, 1974, ICEL

131. All Hail, Adorèd Trinity / Ave Colenda Trinitas
132. Holy, Holy, Holy
133. Come Thou Almighty King

Liturgical Guide: Pentecost

Enkindle in Our Hearts the Fire of Your Love

The hymns used at Pentecost in the Liturgy of the Hours celebrate the founding of the Church as Christ's Mystical Body, and the Father's sending of the Holy Spirit that will always remain with the Church, continually renewing, guiding, and pouring out his graces upon his people. In the following video, Fr. James Kubicki, SJ of the Apostleship of Prayer shares some of Pope Benedict XVI's refections on Pentecost from his Homily on Pentecost Sunday for 2009. Benedict reminds us that "Pentecost is distinguished from all the Solemnities by it's importance since what Jesus himself had announced as the purpose of the whole of his mission on Earth is brought about in it." What is his purpose? As he said in Luke 12: 49: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"



LITURGY OF THE HOURS (1975, ICEL)

122. Hail Thee, Festival Day / Salve Festa Dies
127. Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, Come / Veni Creator Spiritus
128. The Spirit of God
129. Holy Spirit, God of Light / Veni Sancte Spiritus
130. Splendor of Creation (Send Forth Your Spirit)