MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA. TREATISE II. 3. MEANS OF HONOURING THE TRINITY.

 Protus & Hyacinth

MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA. 

TREATISE II. 

3. MEANS OF HONOURING THE TRINITY. 

I. There are many motives for our paying particular honour to God as made known to us in the mystery of the Trinity. Consider 1. Its sovereign grandeur and excellence : nothing is so majestic and so deserving of our homage. 2. The goodness and liberality shown to us by each of the Divine Persons. We have been predestined to eternal life, created to the image of God, endowed with all that we have, preserved by continual care, redeemed, and sanctified, and raised to the supernatural life. 3. The utility which will accrue to us from honouring the three Divine Persons. Al though our gratitude and service should be something more than the expectation of future favours, we are permitted, with David, to take account of the recompense ; this will help us to value God s graces more, and we shall receive of them in greater abundance. 4. The example of others ; of Our Lord Jesus Christ first of all ; then of His most Blessed Mother, whose soul magnified the Lord ; of the Seraphim who exclaim continually, Holy ! Holy ! Holy ! and of all the saints of the Church. Regret that you are able to do so little for the glory of the three Divine Persons in return for all that they have been to you and have done for you. Regret your past negligence and forgetfulness. Praise each Person separately for His special benefits to you.

II. There are various ways in which you may honour the Holy Trinity. 1. By correcting all habits of mortal sin which destroy the indwelling of God with you, and all venial sins which diminish the divine influence. 2. By refraining from all unprofitable employments and unnecessary recreations which waste the precious time in which you might glorify God. 3. By invoking the Holy Trinity, and in particular by making the Sign of the Cross frequently and reverently. 4. By humbling yourself before this great mystery, and recognizing your vileness and unworthiness, and veiling your face, as it were, before God. 5. By rejoicing at the infinite greatness and excellence of the Trinity in each of its magnificent perfections. 6. By promoting the know ledge, and love, and service of the Blessed Trinity among the ignorant and the sinful. Resolve to carry out some or all of these practices of devotion. Above all assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in which you can unite with the Adorable Victim in rendering to God an adequate adoration, and gratitude, and reparation for your sins.

III. The best foundation we can lay for a life of devotion and honour towards the Holy Trinity is to meditate profoundly on its marvels in its different aspects, and on the great attributes of God. This is the most sublime of all matter for meditation, and it belongs especially to those who have risen high in spirituality. It is more akin to the contemplations of the blessed in heaven than many of the other subjects on which we are obliged to exercise ourselves while in this land of darkness and sin. It raises our minds at once into a more lofty and tranquil sphere of thought, that is not only superior to our material surroundings and our infirmities, but also to the highest level of our natural powers. In the purgative way we dwell on our sins and their consequences ; in the illuminative way we contemplate the virtues befitting our present state as shown in the earthly life of the Son of God ; but the consideration of God in His Essence, of the perfections manifested by Him in the higher life, belongs to the unitive way. Such meditation ought to have a very pronounced effect on our thoughts and on our lives. It should move us to a great contempt of the world and its vanities, a great appreciation of the beauty and grandeur of the Divinity, an ardent desire to see the face of God, generosity of self-sacrifice and labour, and familiarity in advance with the occupations of our future life.

MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES BELLORD, D.D.