Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 | Richard C Spotts, Author

Sunday, 15 June 2025: Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, Whitemarsh

Proverbs 8:1–4, 22–31, Psalm 8

Romans 5:1–5

Saint John 16:12–15 (When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.)

Prelude:

“In Festo Sanctæ Trinitatis” from “L’Orgue Mystique” by Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) (18:41)

I. Prélude à l’introït: “Benedicta sit” (2:00)

Introitus: Benedicta sit

Blessed be the holy Trinity, and the undivided Unity: We will confess him, because he hath shewed mercy upon us. = O Lord our Governor: How excellent is thy Name in all the world. = Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. —Introit (Tobit xij; Psalm viij)

II. Offertoire: “Benedictus sit Deus Pater” (3:34)

Offertorium: Benedictus sit Deus Pater

Blessed be God the Father, and the only-begotten Son of God, and likewise the Holy Spirit: for he hath shewed his mercy upon us. —Offertory (Tobit xij)

III. Élévation: “Benedictus es, Domine Deus” (1:30)

Alleluia: Benedictus es, Domine Deus

Alleluia, alleluia. = Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our Fathers: and to be praised and glorified for ever. Alleluia. —Alleluia (Canticle of the Three Holy Children, Daniel iij)

IV. Communion: “Benedicamus Deum cæli” (3:01)

Communio: Benedicamus Deum cæli

We bless the God of heaven, and extol him before all the living: for he hath shewed his mercy upon us. —Communion (Tobit xij)

V. Pièce terminale: “Triptyque” (8:36)

Hymnus: Jam sol recedit igneus

As fades the glowing orb of day, To thee, great Source of light, we pray; Blest Three in One, to every heart Thy beams of life and love impart. At early dawn, at close of day, To thee our vows we humbly pay; May we, mid joys that never end, With thy bright Saints in homage bend. To God the Father, and the Son, And Holy Spirit, Three in One, Be endless glory, as before The world began, so evermore. Amen. —First & Second Vespers Office Hymn (After Ambrose of Milan, circa 340–397; translated by Thomas Joseph Potter, 1828–1873)

Antiphona: Benedicta sit

Blessed be the Creator and Governor of all things, God both now and ever, through endless ages. —Lauds Benedictus Antiphon (Tobit xxij)

Antiphona: Te Deum Patrem

With our whole heart we confess thee, we praise and bless thee; O God, the Father unbegotten, O only-begotten Son, O Holy Ghost the Comforter, holy and undivided Trinity: to thee alone may glory be, both now and ever more. —Second Vespers Magnificat Antiphon (Tobit xxij)

Hymnus Ambrosianus: Te Deum laudamus

We praise thee O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise thee: the goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee. The noble army of martyrs praise thee: the holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee, the Father, of an infinite majesty, thine adorable, true, and only Son. Also the Holy Ghost the Comforter. Thou art the King of glory, O Christ: thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst humble thyself to be born of a virgin. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge: we therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hadst redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy saints, in glory everlasting. = O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage; + Govern them and lift them up for ever. = Day by day we magnify thee; + And we worship thy Name ever, world without end. = Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin; + O Lord have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us. = O Lord, let thy mercy be upon us; + Our trust is in thee. = O Lord, in thee have I trusted; + Let me never be confounded. —Matins Hymn (Ambrosian Hymn, IV century; translation from the Book of Common Prayer, 1662)

Voluntary:

“Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, Schöpfer” (BWV 680) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) (3:03)

Chorale: Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, Schöpfer

We all believe in one true God, Who created earth and heaven, The Father, who to us in love Hath the right of children given. He both soul and body feedeth, All we need He doth provide us; He through snares and perils leadeth, Watching that no harm betide us. He careth for us day and night, All things are governed by His might. We all believe in Jesus Christ, His own Son, our Lord, possessing An equal Godhead, throne, and might, Source of every grace and blessing. Born of Mary, virgin mother, By the power of the Spirit, Made true man, our elder Brother, That the lost might life inherit; Was crucified for sinful men And raised by God to life again. We all confess the Holy Ghost, Who sweet grace and comfort giveth And with the Father and the Son In eternal glory liveth; Who the Church, His own creation, Keeps in unity of spirit. Here forgiveness and salvation Daily come through Jesus’ merit. All flesh shall rise, and we shall be In bliss with God eternally. (Martin Luther, 1483–1546)

Postlude:

“Hymne d’action de grâce, ‘Te Deum’” from the “Trois paraphrases grégoriennes” by Jean Langlais (1907–1991) (4:45)

Hymnus Ambrosianus: Te Deum laudamus

Musical Notes:

Today is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. It commemorates the First Ecumenical Council convoked by Emperor Constantine (circa 272–337) at Nicæa in 325. It essentially was the first gathering of Christians from around the known world, which, due to the isolation caused by distance and complications of the Roman persecutions, had independently developed multifarious belief systems. After this gathering and the Second Ecumenical Council of 381 that convened in Constantinople, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was formulated, denominating the Trinitarian and Hypostatic Union concepts that form the foundation of Christian beliefs. It was also at these gatherings that the commemoration date of Easter was established and when other canons were codified in an effort to coalesce the Church that, due to the throes of history, had become dispersed. The juxtaposition of division and unity, along with the nature of the human and the divine, would come to define the early councils—much like the nature of the Trinity itself. While Pentecost may represent the birthday of the Church, Trinity Sunday, in addition to the doctrinal concepts it celebrates, hearkens to the time when Christianity underwent a theological maturation and a larger, more complex worldview.

We begin today with the suite for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity from “L’Orgue Mystique” by the French composer Charles Tournemire (1870–1939). Its Pièce terminale, “Triptyque”, derives its imagery from the setting sun depicted in the Vesper Office Hymn, “Jam sol recedit igneus”: “As fades the glowing orb of day, To thee, great Source of light, we pray.” This Trinitarian tone poem is naturally divided into three parts: Beginning with God the Father, the omnipotent Creator is entified by the blazing orb reigning in glory in the heavens in the form of a fiery toccata. The toccata coming to a close, we hear a chorale, which, phrase by phrase, fades through a diminuendo. Here, God the Son—or indeed, the Sun of Righteousness—is symbolised by the setting sun, a visual astrological image of the great heavenly body descending to earth. Finally, with the dulcet tones of the Voix céleste (id est, the “celestial voice”), God the Holy Ghost is envisaged as the moment when the crepuscular rays cede into the ethereal serenity of twilight, as a moonlit ghostly fog enshrouds the earth, the piece ending on a Cor d’nuit (id est, the “horn of the night”) chanting the Church’s Trinitarian hymn of thanksgiving, the “Te Deum laudamus.”

Today’s offertory is “Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, Schöpfer” (BWV 680) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). Based upon Martin Luther’s (1483–1546) versification of the Creed, this chorale-prelude comes from part three of the “Clavier-Übung”, which is often given the cognomen “the German Organ Mass”. Dating from 1735 to 1736 and published in 1739, this volume of the “Clavier-Übung” features works derived from parts of the Lutheran Mass along with six catechism chorales. Luther’s “Small Catechism” centres on the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Eucharist—concepts that Bach musically renders through his interpretation of liturgical chorales from the vernacular Masses of the Lutheran tradition.

For our postlude, we reprise the “Te Deum” with the “Hymne d’action de grâce” from the “Trois paraphrases grégoriennes” by Jean Langlais (1907–1991). This piece is the final movement of a triptych of Gregorian-chant-inspired organ works written for a composition competition given by the Amis de l’Orgue in 1934. The work employs the incipient phrase “Te Deum laudamus” [“We praise thee, O God”] and the final phrase “In te Domine speravi” [“Lord, in thee have I trusted”]. The competition jury consisted of numerous notable musicians, including Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979), Louis Vierne (1870–1937), and Joseph Bonnet (1884–1944). Surprisingly, the jury rejected all of the scores, and the competition was annulled. However, the publisher Hérelle decided to print the three pieces separately in 1935 and later did so again as a collected work in 1938.