XXIV — THE TRINITY’S OUTPOURINGS IN THE SOUL

Presence of God. — O Most Holy Trinity, deign to renew your visit to my soul.

Meditation

1 — From the very moment of Baptism the Most Holy Trinity has made its dwelling in our soul. Yet the Church, with her “Veni, Sancte Spiritus,” teaches us to invoke with new insistence the coming of the Holy Spirit, and therefore of the whole Most Holy Trinity: by their indivisible unity, none of the three divine Persons comes to us without the others.

But if the Most Holy Trinity is already in us, how can It still come? It is enough that the soul have one degree of grace for God, already present in it as Creator, to give Himself to it also as friend, presenting Himself to it in the reality of his three divine Persons. But this friendship, this intimacy has degrees, and it will become ever closer and deeper in proportion as the soul, growing in grace and charity, is capable of entering into deeper relations with the Most Holy Trinity. It is somewhat as happens between two persons who, because of a certain friendship, live in the same house: as their affection grows, their friendship becomes more intense. Therefore, though already present to one another, their mutual presence acquires a new aspect, the aspect that the presence of a dearest friend has. Though already dwelling in the soul of the just, the Most Holy Trinity can render Itself ever more present there precisely under the aspect of a more intimate friendship; that is, the divine Persons can enter with the soul into ever deeper friendly relations, as in fact happens as the soul, progressing in charity, acquires new degrees of grace. And since these new outpourings of the Trinity in the soul of the just have ever new aspects and produce ever new effects, quite fittingly one speaks of them as new comings, new visits of the divine Persons. But in reality They are already present in the soul; their visits do not come from outside, but from within the soul itself where They dwell and whence They give Themselves to it and also, at least up to a certain point, reveal Themselves to it, according to Jesus’ word: “If anyone loves me... I will manifest myself to him” (Jn. 14:21). Never so well as before this ineffable mystery do we understand the great reality contained in the Gospel verse: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21).

2 — The first visit or outpouring of the Trinity in your soul occurred on the day of your Baptism: the Father sent you the Son; the Father and the Son sent you the Holy Spirit; and by the indissoluble unity of the Three, the Father came without being sent. Now this visit is renewed each time that, by receiving a sacrament or advancing in love, you acquire a new degree of grace. Jesus’ promise, “If anyone loves me... we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn. 14:23), is never exhausted, always new, always ready to be realized whenever you renew its condition, that is, whenever you love with more intense love. This divine gift, offered to you with such generosity, must impel you to generosity, to constant progress in love, because only thus will you be able to enjoy it fully. If you do not place obstacles to the development of charity and grace in your soul, the Most Holy Trinity will place no limits on Its outpouring in you. Here you are before a boundless field without limits, because the limit, the goal proposed to us by Jesus for our life of union with the Most Holy Trinity is the very union that exists among the three divine Persons. Indeed, Jesus Himself, on the evening of the Last Supper, in his priestly prayer, asked his Father for us for a similar union: “as You, Father, are in me and I in You, that they also may be one in us” (Jn. 17:21). Evidently the creature can never be united to the Trinity as the three divine Persons are united among Themselves. Nevertheless Jesus did not hesitate to propose and invoke for us such a union, so as to urge us ever higher and make us understand that, if we do not stop in our correspondence to grace, the Most Holy Trinity will not cease to pour Itself into our soul and unite us to Itself until rendering us “perfect in unity” (ibid., 23). Only in heaven, where we shall contemplate the Trinity unveiled, face to face, will our union with the divine Persons be perfect. But already here below, through faith and love, we must walk with swift steps toward this splendid goal that will constitute our joy for all eternity.

Colloquy

“O Trinity! most high God, most clement, most beneficent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, I hope in You. Instruct me, direct me, sustain me.

“O Father, by your infinite power, fix my memory in You and fill it with holy and divine thoughts.

“O Son! by your eternal wisdom, enlighten my intellect; grant it knowledge of your supreme truth and of my own lowliness.

“O Holy Spirit, who are the love of the Father and the Son, by your incomprehensible goodness, transfer my will into You and inflame it with the inextinguishable fire of your charity.

“O my Lord and my God, O my beginning and my end, O essence most simple, most tranquil, and most lovable! O abyss of sweetness and delights, O my lovable light and highest happiness of my soul, ocean of unspeakable joys, perfect fullness of every good, my God and my all, what do I still lack when I possess You? You are my only and unchangeable good. I must seek nothing but You. I seek and desire nothing but You. Lord, draw me to You. I knock, O Lord: open to me. Open to a little orphan who implores You. Immerse me in the abyss of your divinity. Make me one spirit with You so that, within myself, I may possess your delights” (St. Albert the Great). “Holy Father, by that love with which You reflect upon me the light of your face, grant me the grace to advance in You with every kind of holiness and virtue.

“O my Lord Jesus Christ, by that love that moved You to redeem me with your own blood, clothe me with the purity of your most holy life.

“O divine Paraclete! You in whom power is equal to holiness, by that love that moved You to bind me to Yourself, grant me the grace to love You with all my heart, to cleave to You with all my soul, to spend all my strength in loving and serving You and to live according to your inspirations” (St. Gertrude).