Hymns to the One Triune Divinity

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

GREAT LENT - The Fifth Day

Spare the work of Thine hands, O Savior, and as the Shepherd, seek the lost sheep that has gone astray. Snatch me away from the wolf and make me as a lamb, safe among the sheep of Thy pasture. 

- Canon of St. Andrew, Thursday of the First Week, Ode 8

 

Yesterday evening was rather extraordinary in that I think there were between fifty and sixty worshipers present at the fourth and final part of the Canon of Repentance. At the end of the service, the line of everyone waiting to venerate the icons seemed to keep growing and stretching for a very long time. And, as presvytera Deborah commented to me afterwards, it struck her how everyone seemed very focused and attentive to the singing and chanting of the Canon, together with the other powerful prayers throughout the Compline Service. It was the culmination of a week-long response to the Canon by the parish. In other words, a very good beginning to our collective lenten effort. I hope to see many of the parish faithful present this evening for the first of our Presanctified Liturgies that are so crucial to the lenten journey. The Presanctifed Gifts are the Manna from heaven - the Bread of Life - that sustains through the "desert of the Fast."

Perhaps a component of the Canon that we can "take for granted" as a usual feature of many canons are the hymns to the Trinity that come after the various troparia of the Canon and which always follow the Glory ... Now and ever ...These are some of the Church's most expressive trinitarian hymns, their placement, and the setting and atmosphere of this service - a kind of prayerful stillness that allows for deeper concentration - have a deep effect on the praying heart as we glorify the life-giving Trinity. The paradox of the Three-in-One is thus prayerfully manifested throughout the service. These examples hopefully reinforce the point:

I confess Thee as undivided in Essence unconfused in Persons, One Triune Divinity, co-reigning and co-enthroned! And to Thee, I raise the great Thrice-holy hymn that is sung on high. (Ode 4)

O Trinity, simple and undivided, consubstantial and of One Nature. We praise Thee, Light and Lights, One Holy and Three Holies, God the Trinity! Sing, O my soul, and glorify the Life and Lives, the God of all. (Ode 7)

O Eternal Father, Co-eternal Son and Gracious Comforter, the Spirit of Righteousness, Father of the Divine Word, Word of the Eternal Father, and Living and Creating Spirit. O Trinity, One in Unity, have mercy on me! (Ode 8)

Truly, we are Trinitarian Monotheists!