Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
As many might already know my superiors have sent me to the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Marsa to form part of the Franciscan Capuchin Fraternity there. My Capuchin brothers, amid hard work coupled with fraternal and personal sacrifices, have been running the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Marsa for the last century.
My coming to Marsa has been a real grace to me indeed! The Parish’s titular, the Holy Trinity, is the core of our Christian belief! As the Cathecism of the Catholic Church rightly says in entry 234: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’. The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men ‘and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin’.”
Leafing through the beautiful Diary of Saint Faustina in this Jubilee Year of Mercy has gently led me to appreciate the Trinitarian perspective in the Divine Mercy spirituality. St Faustina’s Diary is replete with Trinitarian entries!
This Polish holy nun admits that she could only progress in her profound relationship with Jesus Christ and cherish more profoundly his compassionate heart thanks to “His Trintarian Being [which] enveloped me entirely” (Diary, 1056). St Faustina completely understood that her evolving intimacy with Jesus was, in fact, possible, when she felt more and more embraced by the Holy Trinity. A case in point is what she recorded in her Diary on the Feast of the Ascension of 1937. She thus relates:
“After Holy Communion I communed for a while with the heavenly Father. My soul was drawn into the glowing center of love. I understood that no exterior works could stand comparison with the pure love of God. … I saw the joy of the Incarnate Word, and I was immersed in the Divine Trinity. When I came to myself, longing filled my soul, and I yearned to be united with God” (Diary, 1121).
In the latter quote Saint Faustina equates a deeper recognition for the Trinitarian mystery of God with an appreciation of the “glowing center of love” in God. The same reflection crops up in entry 1020:
“I understand the spiritual espousal of a soul with God, which has no exterior manifestation. It is a purely interior act between the soul and God. This grace has drawn me into the very burning center of God’s love. I have come to understand His Trinitarian quality and the absolute Oneness of His Being”.
The Eucharist was a life transforming grace for St Faustina. The Eucharistic Sacrifice inspired her to understand more profoundly the Blessed Trinity. In entry 472 she recounts that after she heard the angel chanting “Holy, Holy, Holy,” while the priest was elevating the Body of Christ, an inspiration on the mystery of the Trinity was given to her by God.
“I knew more distinctly than ever before the Three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But their being, their equality, and their majesty are one. My soul is in communion with these Three; but I do not know how to express this in words; yet my soul understands this well. Whoever is united to One of the Three Persons is thereby united to the whole Blessed Trinity, for this Oneness is indivisible” (Diary, 472).
In another occasion, following the reception of Holy Communion, St Faustina started penetrating into the reality that the total Holy Trinity came to dwell within her soul.
“Once after Holy Communion, I heard these words: You are our dwelling place. At that moment I felt in my soul the presence of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I felt that I was the Temple of God. I felt that I was a child of the Father. I cannot explain all this, but the Spirit understands this well (Diary, 451).
O Triune God, make my soul your cherished dwelling place. Amen.