Prayer to the Trinity
From a dialogue On Divine Providence by Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Saint Catherine’s prayer to the Blessed Trinity
I tasted and I saw
Narrated by Lisa Morton
Eternal God, Eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.
I have tasted and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be.
Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit has given me the desire to love you. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity, and I am your creature. You have made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son, and I know that you are moved with love at the beauty of your creation, for you have enlightened me.
Eternal Trinity, Godhead, Mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognize that you are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.
You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God!”
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Catherine of Siena was one of the great Christian mystics in church history. She recorded her mystical experiences published later as the Dialogue of St. Catherine, a work still sold in book stores today. While her life was cut short at 33 years, her legacy includes some three hundred and sixty-four letters to people in every class of society. These letters give evidence of a truly remarkable life, one tracked and analyzed by over 200 authors and historians who published major works on her life and spirituality. Catherine was the only survivor of twins and only half of her other brothers and sisters lived beyond infancy. She was the last of twenty five children. She was canonized a saint by Pope Pius II in 1461, made the patron of Italy in 1939 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. The Church officially celebrates her feast day around the world in the calendar of the Mass on April 29th. Her life of grace and spirituality is one that stands out in history with all the brilliance of a star in the night.