Post #5991

Thus says the Roman Church at the hour of Prima: “Now the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance.” (Athanasian Symbol). “Immediately after celebrating the advent of the Holy Spirit, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity in the Sunday office that follows, says St. Rupert in the twelfth century, and this place is well chosen because immediately after the descent of this divine Spirit, preaching and belief began, and, in Baptism, faith and confession in the name of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit”. The dogma of the Most Holy Trinity is affirmed in the whole liturgy. It is in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit that begins and ends Mass and the Divine Office, and that the sacraments are conferred. All the Psalms end with the Gloria Patri, the Hymns with the Doxology and the Prayers with a conclusion in honour of the three divine Persons. In the Mass it is remembered twice that the Sacrifice is offered to the Most Holy Trinity. The dogma of the Trinity shines also in the churches. Our fathers loved to see a symbol in the admirably proportioned height, width and length of the buildings; in their main and secondary divisions: the sanctuary, the choir, the nave; the galleries, the three-light windows, the glazed windows; the three entrances - under the triple door of the basilica that St. Paulinus raised over the tomb of St. Felix had this inscription placed: “You enter this church through a triple arch: these three doors affirm the faith in the Trinity "-, the three doors, the three rooms, the pediment (formed in a triangle) and, at times, the three towers or bell towers. Everywhere, down to the details of the ornament, the repeated number three reveals a pre-established plan, a thought of faith in the Most Holy Trinity. Christian iconography reproduces this thought in different ways. Until the XII century, God the Father is represented by a blessing hand that rises among the clouds, and often surrounded by a halo: this hand signifies the omnipotence of God. In the thirteenth and XIV centuries the face and bust of the Father can be seen; since the XV century the Father is represented by an old man dressed like the Pontiff. - Until the XII century God the Son is represented by a cross, a lamb or a graceful young man as the pagans represented Apollo. From the XI century to the XVI century Christ appeared in full strength and bearded; from the XIII century he carries his cross, but it is often still represented by the Lamb. - The Holy Spirit was first represented by a dove, whose outstretched wings often touch the mouth of the Father and the Son, to signify that it proceeds from both. From the XI century he was represented for this in the form of a child. In the XIII century he is an adolescent, in the XV a mature man like the Father and the Son, but with a dove over His head or in His hand to distinguish him from the other two people. After the XVI century, the dove regains the exclusive right it originally had to represent the Holy Spirit.