Latin Names for Sundays in the Roman Rite

Unfortunately in the past fifty years Catholics have all but forgotten that each Sunday of the Liturgical Year has a special name, taken from the first words of the Introit from the Proper Prayers for the Mass that day.

For your edification, I present the Latin names for these Sundays.  Some of these names (e.g. Laetare Sunday) are more common than others.  You may find the proper prayers on my separate page dedicated to the Traditional Mass Propers by clicking here.

Note: The Class distinction listed below is from the 1962 Rubrics.

Advent
First Sunday of Advent
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Ad Te Levave'
Second Sunday of Advent
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Populus Sion'
Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
1 Cl.	Rose	Missa 'Gaudete'
Wednesday/Friday/Saturday of Advent Embertide (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the Third Sunday -- Gaudete Sunday -- of Advent)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Rorate Coeli'/Missa 'Prope es Tu'/Missa 'Veni'
Fourth Sunday of Advent
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Rorate Coeli'
Christmastide
Vigil of Christmas
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Hodie Scietis'
Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas)
1 Cl. with Octave	White	First Mass at Midnight: Missa 'Dominus Dixit' Second Mass at Dawn: Missa 'Lux Fulgebit' Third Mass During the Daytime: Missa 'Puer Natus Est'
Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Dum Medium'
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (the Sunday after Jan. 1, or Sunday after the Octave Day of the Nativity, or Jan. 2, or the Sunday between the Octave Day of the Nativity and the Epiphany)
2 Cl.	White	Missa 'In Nomine Jesu'
The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Ecce Advenit'
First Sunday after Epiphany (Feast of the Holy Family)
2 Cl.	White	Missa 'Exsultat Gaudio'
Time after Epiphany
Second Sunday after Epiphany
2 Cl..	Green	Missa 'Omnis Terra'
Third Sunday after Epiphany
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Adorate Deum'
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Adorate Deum'
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Adorate Deum'
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Adorate Deum'
Septuagesima
First Sunday of Septuagesima (Septuagesima Sunday)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Circumdederunt Me'
Second Sunday of Septuagesima (Sexagesima Sunday)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Exsurge'
Third Sunday of Septuagesima (Quinquagesima Sunday)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Esto Mihi'
Lent
Ash Wednesday
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Misereris Omnium'
First Sunday of Lent (Quadragesima Sunday)
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Invocabit Me'
Wednesday/Friday/Saturday of Lenten Embertide (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday of Lent)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Reminiscere Miserationum Tuarum'/Missa 'De Necessitatibus'/Missa 'Intret Oratio'
Second Sunday of Lent
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Reminiscere Miserationum'
Third Sunday of Lent
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Oculi Mei'
Fourth Sunday of Lent ("Laetare Sunday" or "Rose Sunday")
1 Cl.	Rose	Missa 'Laetare'
Fifth Sunday of Lent (Passion Sunday, which begins the two weeks of Passiontide)
1 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Judica Me Deus'
Friday after Passion Sunday (Feast of the Seven Sorrows)
Com.	White	Missa 'Sabant Juxta'
Sixth Sunday of Lent and Second Sunday of Passiontide (Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week)
1 Cl.	Red	Missa 'Domine Ne Longe'
Spy Wednesday (the Wednesday of Holy Week)
	Purple	Missa 'In Nomine Jesu'
Maundy Thursday (the Thursday of Holy Week. The three days called the "Sacred Triduum" begin now)
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Nos Autem'
Good Friday (the Friday of Holy Week)
1 Cl.	Black	Mass of the Presanctified (not a true Mass, but a Communion Service using pre-sanctified Hosts)
Paschaltide
Holy Saturday (Eastertide begins with the Vigil Mass)
1 Cl.	Purple	No Mass, but an Easter Vigil Service which begins the Easter Season
Easter Sunday
1 Cl. with Octave	White	Missa 'Resurrexi'
Monday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Introduxit'
Tuesday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Aqua Sapientiae'
Wednesday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Venite'
Thursday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Victricem Manum Tuum'
Friday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Eduxit Eos Dominus'
Saturday in Easter Week
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Eduxit Dominus'
First Sunday after Easter ("Low Sunday" or "Quasimodo Sunday" or "Divine Mercy Sunday")
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Quasi Modo'
Second Sunday after Easter
	White	Missa 'Misericordia Domini'
Third Sunday after Easter
	White	Missa 'Jubilate Deo'
Fourth Sunday after Easter
	White	Missa 'Cantate Domino'
Fifth Sunday after Easter
	White	Missa 'Vocem Jucunditatis' Outside of Eastertide: Missa "Protexisti'
Ascension Thursday
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Viri Galilaei'
Vigil of the Pentecost
1 Cl.	Red	Missa 'Cum Sanctificatus'
Pentecost Sunday (Whitsunday)
1 Cl. with Octave	Red	Missa 'Spiritus Domini'
Wednesday/Friday/Saturday of Whit Embertide (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Pentecost)
1 Cl./1 Cl./1 Cl.	Red/Red/Red	Missa 'Deus Dum Egredereris'/Missa 'Repleatur Os Meum'/Missa 'Caritas Dei'
Time after Pentecost
First Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday)
1 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Benedicta Sit'
Thursday after Trinity Sunday (Feast of Corpus Christi)
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Cibavit Eos' and Procession
Second Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	White	Missa 'Factus Est Dominus'
Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost (Feast of the Sacred Heart)
1 Cl.	White	Missa 'Cogitationes Cordis'
Third Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	White	Missa 'Respice In Me'
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dominus Illuminatio Mea'
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Exaudi Domine'
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dominus Fortitudo'
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Omnes Gentes'
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Suscepimus Deus'
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Ecce Deus Adjuvat'
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Cum Clamarem'
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Deus In Loco'
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Deus in Adjutorum'
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Respice Domine'
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Protector Noster'
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Inclina Domine'
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Miserere Mihi Domine'
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Justus Es Domine'
Wednesday/Friday/Saturday of Michaelmas Embertide (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after September 14)
2 Cl.	Purple	Missa 'Exsultate Deo'/Missa 'Laetetur Cor'/Missa 'Venite Adoremus Deum'
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Da Pacem Domine'
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Salus Populi'
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Omnia Quae Fecisti'
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'In Voluntate Tua'
Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Si Iniquitates Observaveris'
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'
Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'
Last Sunday of Pentecost (no matter how many Sundays in Pentecost there are)
2 Cl.	Green	Missa 'Dicit Dominus'

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Traditional Roman Catholic Sunday Mass Propers

1962 vs. Pre-1955 Mass Propers

To those Catholics looking for the Traditional (pre-Vatican II) Sunday propers, look no further than the below list.  Do note: these are from the 1945 Missal and represent the Mass as it was said up until the changes made in 1955 by Pope Pius XII. The changes in the cycle of Sunday readings, outside of Holy Week, only really affected Sundays that previously had commemorations of Octaves. So you will notice commemorations of the Octave of the Sacred Heart, Corpus Christi, and the Ascension which are not retained in the 1962 Missal. We can in a greater way help preserve Catholic Tradition by keeping and praying these traditional Octaves and keeping the older readings that were part of the Faith for centuries. 

The most significant changes to the Missal in 1955 concern Holy Week but most of the readings remained the same except for the Easter Vigil, although the rubrics changed significantly. Notes on the differences between the Pre-1955 Readings and the Post-1955 readings are noted on each post.

Temporal vs. Sanctoral Cycle

The Proper of Seasons, called the Temporal Cycle, traces the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It consists mainly of Sundays related to the various liturgical seasons. This maps onto the 7 liturgical seasons contained in the two cycles we previously discussed: the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. It starts with Advent then goes through Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, and Time after Pentecost.

There is also the Proper of Saints, called the Sanctoral Cycle, which is the annual cycle of feasts not necessarily connected with the seasons. We commemorate and ask the intercession of those holy men and women who set a marvelous example that we should all strive to imitate. We also commemorate various events and mysteries of the faith in the Sanctoral Cycle.

The following are the traditional proper for the temporal cycle of readings in the Traditional Latin Mass for Sundays and select other holy days. 

ADVENT 

First Sunday of Advent
Second Sunday of Advent
Third Sunday of Advent
Fourth Sunday of Advent

CHRISTMAS 

Christmas Day
Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity
Octave Day of the Nativity
Most Holy Name of Jesus

EPIPHANY

Feast of the Epiphany
Feast of the Holy Family

First Sunday after Epiphany
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

LENT 

Septuagesima Sunday
Sexagesima Sunday
Quinquagesima Sunday
Ash Wednesday
First Sunday in Lent
Second Sunday in Lent
Third Sunday in Lent
Laetare Sunday
Passion Sunday

HOLY WEEK [Notes on 1962 vs 1954 Readings are included]

Palm Sunday
Holy Monday
Holy Tuesday
Spy Wednesday
Holy Thursday
Good Friday

EASTERTIDE 

Easter Sunday
Low Sunday
Second Sunday after Easter
Third Sunday after Easter
Fourth Sunday after Easter
Fifth Sunday after Easter

ASCENSION 

Vigil of the Ascension
Ascension
Octave of the Ascension
Sunday after the Ascension

PENTECOST

Vigil of Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday

SUNDAYS AFTER PENTECOST 

Trinity Sunday
Corpus Christi
Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Sunday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart
4th Sunday after Pentecost
5th Sunday after Pentecost
6th Sunday after Pentecost
7th Sunday after Pentecost
8th Sunday after Pentecost
9th Sunday after Pentecost
10th Sunday after Pentecost
11th Sunday after Pentecost
12th Sunday after Pentecost
13th Sunday after Pentecost
14th Sunday after Pentecost
15th Sunday after Pentecost
16th Sunday after Pentecost
17th Sunday after Pentecost
18th Sunday after Pentecost
19th Sunday after Pentecost
20th Sunday after Pentecost
21st Sunday after Pentecost
22nd Sunday after Pentecost
23rd Sunday after Pentecost
24th Sunday after Pentecost
Christ the King (Last Sunday of October)
Last Sunday after Pentecost

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The "Easter Duty": Receive Holy Communion Once a Year

The fourth precept of the Church requires us to receive our Divine Savior in Holy Communion at least once a year, and unlike the precept on Confession, the reception of Holy Communion must take place during the Easter Season. The precept of confessing your sins at least once a year may take place at any point in the calendar year.

Fr. Jim Achacoso in an online article entitled The Easter Eucharistic Precept and the Law of Annual Confession discusses the importance and history of this precept:

"Due to a widespread neglect of the sacrament of the Eucharist in the Middle Ages, various Church Councils, from the 6th Century onward, enacted laws obliging the faithful to receive the Holy Eucharist, especially on the principal feasts. The IV Lateran Council (1215) established a general law for the Latin Church requiring the reception of Communion at least once a year at Easter by those who had attained the age of discretion. This law, which was confirmed by the Council of Trent, was incorporated in the 1917 Code of Canon Law. The actual Code of 1983 retains the annual precept, with some modifications…"

To further explain the history, the Catholic Encyclopedia of New Advent states:

"Paschaltide is the period during which every member of the faithful who has attained the year of discretion is bound by the positive law of the Church to receive Holy Communion (Easter duty). During the early Middle Ages from the time of the Synod of Agde (508), it was customary to receive Holy Communion at least three times a year — Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. A positive precept was issued by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and confirmed by the Council of Trent (Sess. XIII, can. ix). According to these decrees the faithful of either sex, after coming to the age of discretion, must receive at least at Easter the Sacrament of the Eucharist (unless by the advice of the parish priest they abstain for a while). Otherwise during life they are to be prevented from entering the church and when dead are to be denied Christian burial. The paschal precept is to be fulfilled in one's parish church. Although the precept of the Fourth Lateran to confess to the parish priest fell into disuse and permission was given to confess anywhere, the precept of receiving Easter Communion in the parish church is still in force where there are canonically-erected parishes…"

Code of Canon Law:

1983 Code of Canon Law:

Can. 920 §1. After being initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year. §2. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at another time during the year.

1917 Code of Canon Law:

The precept for annual reception of First Holy Communion is contained in Code 859. Every Catholic, of either sex, who has reached the age of discretion, i. e., attained the use of reason, must receive Holy Eucharist once a year, at least during Easter time, unless his own priest should, for a reasonable cause, advise him to abstain from it for a time.

When May the Easter Duty Be Fulfilled?

The 1962 Rituale Romanum states:

"The time within which the Easter communion must be received commences on Palm Sunday and terminates on Low Sunday. But it is the right of the local Ordinary, if circumstances of persons or place demand, to extend this time for all the faithful, however, not earlier than the fourth Sunday in Lent nor later than Trinity Sunday. The faithful should be persuaded to fulfill this obligation, everyone in his own parish church. Whoever fulfills it in another church must see to it that he inform his own pastor of the fact. The precept of Easter communion still continues to be binding if one has neglected it during the time prescribed, no matter for what reason." 

New Advent clarifies though some important exceptions that will impact most people:

"In the United States upon petition of the Fathers of the First Provincial Council of Baltimore Paschal Tide was extended by Pius VIII to the period from the first Sunday in Lent to Trinity Sunday (II Plen. Coun. Balt., n. 257); in England it lasts from Ash Wednesday until Low Sunday; in Ireland from Ash Wednesday until the octave of SS. Peter and Paul, 6 July (O'Kane "Rubrics of the Roman Ritual," n. 737; Slater, "Moral Theology" 578, 599); in Canada the duration of the Paschal Tide is the same as in the United States. 

For instance, Father Patrick Power's Catechism (III) from 1905 published in Dubin mentions this precept as such: "To receive worthily the Blessed Eucharist at Easter, or within the time appointed; that is, from Ash-Wednesday to the octave day of the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, inclusive."

These are exceptions from the standard time mentioned in the Rituale Romanum. This is affirmed in the Baltimore Catechism #1354: "The Easter time is, in this country [the United States], the time between the first Sunday in Lent and Trinity Sunday."

Pope St. Pius X said, "Holy Communion is the “shortest and safest way to Heaven." While the Church encourages all to receive the Blessed Sacrament regularly — even daily — it must be stated that at no time and for no reason may the Faithful receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin. You must attend Sacramental Confession prior to receiving Holy Communion. This precept of the Church does not mandate, require, condone, or support the reception of Holy Communion in the state of sin.

It must also be stated that like the precept of assisting at Mass each Sunday, these can be dispensed by one's local ordinary for a serious reason. We are seeing some dispensations occur this year due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, what most news articles are failing to report is that the Easter Duty does not require receiving Holy Communion on Easter Sunday. As demonstrated, it is fulfilled over a much larger time - including all of Lent in most countries.

To learn more about the precepts of the Church, pick up a copy of "Understanding the Precepts of the Church."

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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

"You see the revolving circle of the glory moving from Like to Like. The Son is glorified by the Spirit; the Father is glorified by the Son; again the Son has His glory from the Father; and the Only-begotten thus becomes the glory of the Spirit. For with what shall the Father be glorified, but with the true glory of the Son: and with what again shall the Son be glorified, but with the majesty of the Spirit? In like manner, again, Faith completes the circle, and glorifies the Son by means of the Spirit, and the Father by means of the Son" (St. Gregory of Nyssa).

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, where we recall the most fundamental mystery of the Christian faith - that God is a Triune God. There is but One Almighty God as Our Lord declared to Moses on Mount Sinai. Yet, in the New Testament we realize the true nature of Our God - He is three persons. For God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are but the same God merely in three different persons. The Holy Trinity can be observed in the Gospel through the words of our Lord: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:18).

History of the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

The feast of the Blessed Trinity was first introduced in the 9th century and was only made part of the general calendar of the Church in the 14th century by Pope John XXII. The SSPX website notes:

For the first thousand years of Christianity, no special feast was selected to celebrate this mystery since, as Pope Alexander II (1073) declared, every day of the liturgical year was devoted to the honor and adoration of the Holy Trinity.

It was to counteract the Arian heresy, which denied the fullness of divinity to the Son, that a special text of the Mass in honor of the Holy Trinity was introduced in the liturgical books. It was left to the devotion of each priest, pretty much like the present votive Masses. From the 9th century onwards, bishops of the Frankish kingdoms had a special celebration of the mystery, usually on the Sunday after Pentecost, using a Mass text from Charlemagne's advisor, Abbot Alcuin from 804.

But it was not until John XXII that it was inserted in the official calendar of the Western Church in 1334. However, it is interesting to note that the beautiful Preface of the Trinity (read throughout all Sundays after Pentecost), dates from the time of St. Gregory the Great. 

As Gregory DiPippo of the New Liturgical Movement relates, "There is a minority tradition, which was kept up in the Low Countries and some parts of Germany until the later part of the 16th century, that kept the octave day of Pentecost as a true octave and put Trinity on the Monday after, but that was never done at Rome. From the time it was adopted at Rome, it was always on the Sunday after Pentecost."

Today on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Athanasian Creed is prayed in the 1961 Divine Office during Prime. Before the changes to the Office in 1955/1956, the rubrics in place under Divinu Afflatu promulgated by St. Pius X were in force. And per those rubrics, the Athanasian Creed was said on all Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost which did not fall within Octaves or on which a feast of a rank of Double or higher was celebrated or commemorated, in addition to being prayed on Trinity Sunday. Thus even Traditional priests who say the 1961 Breviary, will only pray this Creed once a year, on this Sunday.

Truths of the Holy Trinity

1. The Trinity is one. There are three persons but only one God. Each person is God wholly and entirely.
2. Each person is different the other two. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not different roles of the same person. Each person has a different origin.
3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all share one nature. They are related but not the same person while each of them is fully God.

Roles of Each Person of the Trinity

1. The Father sent His only Son: "When the appointed time came, God sent his Son." (Gal. 4:4) also John 8:42
2. The Son came to die our death and free us
3. The Holy Spirit as one who proceeds from the Father and the Son

Addressing Trinitarian Heresies

Since the beginning, many lies and heresies have sprouted as Our Lord warned that many antichrists would come. Some heretics taught Jesus was not God, there were 3 gods, and the 3 persons were just three different roles of the same person. All of these lies and heresies were condemned.

While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God, the three persons each have a separate purpose in relation to the salvation of the World. However, all the Divine Persons of the Trinity act in perfect unity since God is one and has but one purpose.

While all of this is certainly confusing, we can only pray that through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, we can hope to understand the Trinity. In time we can understand the Trinity and the nature of Our One God better, but only in Heaven will we truly experience the joy of serving the One God and seeing the mystery of the Holy Trinity face to face.

After this brief recap of the truths of the Holy Trinity, let’s briefly identify six key heresies against the Trinity. Some of these same errors still come up, so study this carefully in order to refute them when you encounter them. Click here to learn more.

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Traditional Mass Propers: FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: Trinity Sunday

INTROIT Tobit 12:6
Blessed be the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity. We will give glory to Him, because He has shown mercy to us. Ps. 8:2. O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth! V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT - TRINITY SUNDAY - Almighty and ever-living God, to You we owe the grace of our true faith, which enables us to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and to adore the blessed Unity through the power of Your majesty. Grant that by holding fast to that faith we may always be guarded against all afflictions. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of the FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - O God, the strength of all who place their trust in You, graciously hear our prayers. Because of our weak human nature, we can do nothing without You. Help us by Your grace that we may fulfill Your commands and please You in will and action. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE
Rom. 11:33-36
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen.

GRADUAL
Blessed are You, O Lord, who behold the depths and are enthroned upon the Cherubim. V. Blessed are You, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven, and worthy of praise forever.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Dan. 3:52 Blessed are You, O Lord the God of our fathers, and worthy of praise forever. Alleluia!

GOSPEL
Matt. 28:18-20

At that time, Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."

OFFERTORY
Tob. 12:6
Blessed be God the Father, and the only-begotten Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, because He has shown mercy to us.

SECRET  Bless this Sacrificial Offering as we call upon Your holy name, O Lord our God, and through it let us too become an eternal offering to You. Through our Lord . . .

SECRET - Commemoration of the FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST  Graciously accept the offerings we dedicate to You, O Lord, and let them win for us Your unending assistance. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION
Tob. 12:6
We bless the God of heaven, and we will praise him before all men, because He has shown mercy to us..

POST COMMUNION -  O Lord, our God, let us be made strong in body and soul by the reception of this Sacrament and by acknowledging the Holy, Eternal Trinity and its undivided Unity. Through our Lord . . .

POST COMMUNION  - Commemoration of the FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
We have received Your exceedingly great Gifts in all their fullness, O Lord. Grant that we may use these graces for our salvation and never cease to sing Your praises. Through our Lord . . .

Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945

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Trinity Sunday

Please see my post Trinity Sunday (2006) for my reflection and brief presentation on this central mystery of our Faith.

Below are videos of the Tridentine Mass in Edinburgh on Trinity Sunday 2008, for your spiritual edification:

Introit:



Offertory:



Communion:



Conclusion of Mass:

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Can the Trinity be Known by Human Reason?

In honor of Trinity Sunday, I am sharing Question 32, Article 1 from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

Whether the trinity of the divine persons can be known by natural reason?

Objection 1. It would seem that the trinity of the divine persons can be known by natural reason. For philosophers came to the knowledge of God not otherwise than by natural reason. Now we find that they said many things about the trinity of persons, for Aristotle says (De Coelo et Mundo i, 2): "Through this number"--namely, three--"we bring ourselves to acknowledge the greatness of one God, surpassing all things created." And Augustine says (Confess. vii, 9): "I have read in their works, not in so many words, but enforced by many and various reasons, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," and so on; in which passage the distinction of persons is laid down. We read, moreover, in a gloss on Romans 1 and Exodus 8 that the magicians of Pharaoh failed in the third sign--that is, as regards knowledge of a third person--i.e. of the Holy Ghost --and thus it is clear that they knew at least two persons. Likewise Trismegistus says: "The monad begot a monad, and reflected upon itself its own heat." By which words the generation of the Son and procession of the Holy Ghost seem to be indicated. Therefore knowledge of the divine persons can be obtained by natural reason.

Objection 2. Further, Richard St. Victor says (De Trin. i, 4): "I believe without doubt that probable and even necessary arguments can be found for any explanation of the truth." So even to prove the Trinity some have brought forward a reason from the infinite goodness of God, who communicates Himself infinitely in the procession of the divine persons; while some are moved by the consideration that "no good thing can be joyfully possessed without partnership." Augustine proceeds (De Trin. x, 4; x, 11,12) to prove the trinity of persons by the procession of the word and of love in our own mind; and we have followed him in this (27, 1 and 3). Therefore the trinity of persons can be known by natural reason.

Objection 3. Further, it seems to be superfluous to teach what cannot be known by natural reason. But it ought not to be said that the divine tradition of the Trinity is superfluous. Therefore the trinity of persons can be known by natural reason.

On the contrary, Hilary says (De Trin. i), "Let no man think to reach the sacred mystery of generation by his own mind." And Ambrose says (De Fide ii, 5), "It is impossible to know the secret of generation. The mind fails, the voice is silent." But the trinity of the divine persons is distinguished by origin of generation and procession (30, 2). Since, therefore, man cannot know, and with his understanding grasp that for which no necessary reason can be given, it follows that the trinity of persons cannot be known by reason.

I answer that, It is impossible to attain to the knowledge of the Trinity by natural reason. For, as above explained (12, 4, 12), man cannot obtain the knowledge of God by natural reason except from creatures. Now creatures lead us to the knowledge of God, as effects do to their cause. Accordingly, by natural reason we can know of God that only which of necessity belongs to Him as the principle of things, and we have cited this fundamental principle in treating of God as above (Question 12, Article 12). Now, the creative power of God is common to the whole Trinity; and hence it belongs to the unity of the essence, and not to the distinction of the persons. Therefore, by natural reason we can know what belongs to the unity of the essence, but not what belongs to the distinction of the persons. Whoever, then, tries to prove the trinity of persons by natural reason, derogates from faith in two ways.

Firstly, as regards the dignity of faith itself, which consists in its being concerned with invisible things, that exceed human reason; wherefore the Apostle says that "faith is of things that appear not" (Hebrews 11:1), and the same Apostle says also, "We speak wisdom among the perfect, but not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery which is hidden" (1 Corinthians 2:6-7).

Secondly, as regards the utility of drawing others to the faith. For when anyone in the endeavor to prove the faith brings forward reasons which are not cogent, he falls under the ridicule of the unbelievers: since they suppose that we stand upon such reasons, and that we believe on such grounds.

Therefore, we must not attempt to prove what is of faith, except by authority alone, to those who receive the authority; while as regards others it suffices to prove that what faith teaches is not impossible. Hence it is said by Dionysius (Div. Nom. ii): "Whoever wholly resists the word, is far off from our philosophy; whereas if he regards the truth of the word"--i.e. "the sacred word, we too follow this rule."

Reply to Objection 1. The philosophers did not know the mystery of the trinity of the divine persons by its proper attributes, such as paternity, filiation, and procession, according to the Apostle's words, "We speak the wisdom of God which none of the princes of the world"--i.e. the philosophers--"knew" (1 Corinthians 2:6). Nevertheless, they knew some of the essential attributes appropriated to the persons, as power to the Father, wisdom to the Son, goodness to the Holy Ghost; as will later on appear. So, when Aristotle said, "By this number," etc., we must not take it as if he affirmed a threefold number in God, but that he wished to say that the ancients used the threefold number in their sacrifices and prayers on account of some perfection residing in the number three. In the Platonic books also we find, "In the beginning was the word," not as meaning the Person begotten in God, but as meaning the ideal type whereby God made all things, and which is appropriated to the Son. And although they knew these were appropriated to the three persons, yet they are said to have failed in the third sign--that is, in the knowledge of the third person, because they deviated from the goodness appropriated to the Holy Ghost, in that knowing God "they did not glorify Him as God" (Romans 1); or, because the Platonists asserted the existence of one Primal Being whom they also declared to be the father of the universe, they consequently maintained the existence of another substance beneath him, which they called "mind" or the "paternal intellect," containing the idea of all things, as Macrobius relates (Som. Scip. iv). They did not, however, assert the existence of a third separate substance which might correspond to the Holy Ghost. So also we do not assert that the Father and the Son differ in substance, which was the error of Origen and Arius, who in this followed the Platonists. When Trismegistus says, "Monad begot monad," etc., this does not refer to the generation of the Son, or to the procession of the Holy Ghost, but to the production of the world. For one God produced one world by reason of His love for Himself.

Reply to Objection 2. Reason may be employed in two ways to establish a point: firstly, for the purpose of furnishing sufficient proof of some principle, as in natural science, where sufficient proof can be brought to show that the movement of the heavens is always of uniform velocity. Reason is employed in another way, not as furnishing a sufficient proof of a principle, but as confirming an already established principle, by showing the congruity of its results, as in astrology the theory of eccentrics and epicycles is considered as established, because thereby the sensible appearances of the heavenly movements can be explained; not, however, as if this proof were sufficient, forasmuch as some other theory might explain them. In the first way, we can prove that God is one; and the like. In the second way, reasons avail to prove the Trinity; as, when assumed to be true, such reasons confirm it. We must not, however, think that the trinity of persons is adequately proved by such reasons. This becomes evident when we consider each point; for the infinite goodness of God is manifested also in creation, because to produce from nothing is an act of infinite power. For if God communicates Himself by His infinite goodness, it is not necessary that an infinite effect should proceed from God: but that according to its own mode and capacity it should receive the divine goodness. Likewise, when it is said that joyous possession of good requires partnership, this holds in the case of one not having perfect goodness: hence it needs to share some other's good, in order to have the goodness of complete happiness. Nor is the image in our mind an adequate proof in the case of God, forasmuch as the intellect is not in God and ourselves univocally. Hence, Augustine says (Tract. xxvii. in Joan.) that by faith we arrive at knowledge, and not conversely.

Reply to Objection 3. There are two reason why the knowledge of the divine persons was necessary for us. It was necessary for the right idea of creation. The fact of saying that God made all things by His Word excludes the error of those who say that God produced things by necessity. When we say that in Him there is a procession of love, we show that God produced creatures not because He needed them, nor because of any other extrinsic reason, but on account of the love of His own goodness. So Moses, when he had said, "In the beginning God created heaven and earth," subjoined, "God said, Let there be light," to manifest the divine Word; and then said, "God saw the light that it was good," to show proof of the divine love. The same is also found in the other works of creation. In another way, and chiefly, that we may think rightly concerning the salvation of the human race, accomplished by the Incarnate Son, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.

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The Athanasian Creed

Today on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Athanasian Creed is prayed in the 1961 Divine Office during Prime.

Before the changes to the Office in 1955/1956, the rubrics in place under Divinu Afflatu promulgated by St. Pius X were in force. And per those rubrics, the Athanasian Creed was said on all Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost which did not fall within Octaves or on which a feast of a rank of Double or higher was celebrated or commemorated, in addition to being prayed on Trinity Sunday.

Thus even Traditional priests who say the 1961 Breviary, will only pray this Creed once a year, on this Sunday. It is as follows:

Camedule Monks in prayer

WHOSOEVER WILL BE SAVED, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible,  the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be both God and Lord, So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another; But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved is must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of his Mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his manhood; Who, although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the Manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

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