Eternal Trinity, Deep Mystery – Catherine of Siena

This tribute to the Trinity as deep mystery captures the spirit of St. Catherine of Siena’s love for the triune God so well that the Roman Catholic Church reads it every year on April 29, St. Catherine’s feast day.

Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.

I have tasted and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit has given me the desire to love you. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity, and I am your creature. You have made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son, and I know that you are moved with love at the beauty of your creation, for you have enlightened me.

Banner/featured image by an unknown artist. Public domain.

Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognise that you are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.

You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God!

For more from St. Catherine of Siena, read her reflection on GOD, THE GIVER OF LIFE AND ALL GOOD GIFTS.

For more on the mystery of the Triune God, read Dr. Italy’s post TRINITY – IS IT RELEVANT?

For a brief podcast on the Trinity, listen to Dr. Italy explain WHY THE TRINITY MATTERS.

This post on the mystery of the triune God is an excerpt from the dialogue On Divine Providence by Saint Catherine of Siena (Cap 167, Gratiarum actio ad Trinitatem).  It  appears in the Roman Office of Readings for the liturgical memorial of St. Catherine of Siena on April 29.  A key biblical text on the Trinity is what is known as the Great Commission Matthew 28:19.

Banner/featured image of St. Catherine of Siena by an unknown artist. Public domain.