Trinity

The English word Trinity is derived from the Latin Trinitas, meaning the number three. The Trinity is considered to be a mystery of Christian faith. According to this doctrine, there is only one God in three persons. Each person is God, whole and entire. The whole work of creation and grace is a single operation common to all three divine persons, who at the same time operate according to their unique properties, so that all things are from the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. The three persons are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. Ignatius of Antioch refers to the three persons around 110 AD, exhorting obedience to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit. Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the early 3rd century, is credited as being the first to use the words Trinity, person and substance to explain that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in essence. In the synoptic gospels the baptism of Jesus is often interpreted as a manifestation of all three persons of the Trinity: And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ (Matthew 3:16-17). Baptism is conferred with the Trinitarian formula, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is the Sunday after Pentecost, and the period of Trinity is of variable length, depending on when Easter falls, but lasts from Trinity Sunday until Advent Sunday. The cycle of collects and readings in the Book of Common Prayer makes provision for the period of Trinity to last for up to 25 weeks. The liturgical colour for Trinity is green.

I saw the Lord, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. and one cried unto another: Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole Earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that spoke, and the house was filled with smoke.

O Trinity, O Unity, be present as we worship Thee and with the songs that angels sing unite the hymns of praise we bring. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole Earth is full of His glory.

The words of this anthem are from Isaiah, chapter 6, verses 1-4.

Sir John Stainer (1840 – 1901), one of England’s most distinguished Victorian church musicians, was a boy chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. At the age of five he lost the sight in his left eye as a result of an accident and, after his voice broke in 1856, he left London to become organist of the recently founded St Michael’s College at Tenbury under the guidance of Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley. In 1859 he went up to Oxford where took an MA, a BMus, and finally a DMus, becoming organist of Magdalen College Chapel. He founded the Oxford Philharmonic Society and conducted its first ever concert in 1866. In 1872 he returned to St Paul’s, where he remained as organist until 1888, when he was knighted. In the same year failing eyesight forced him to resign the position. During these years he was heavily instrumental in a revival in the standard and circumstances of English cathedral music, persuading the Dean and Chapter at St Paul’s to increase the payment offered to cathedral singers, to provide accommodation, to allow for regular choir rehearsals and to introduce more weekly sung services, including communion services. These were measures which were eventually copied by other establishments around the country. He returned to Oxford in 1889 as Professor of Music, and engaged in a great deal of important early research into the works of forgotten composers, such as Tallis, whose manuscripts were stored in the Bodleian Library. His edition of Early Bodleian Music was in no small way responsible for the reintroduction of these composers to mainstream repertoire. As a composer Stainer is perhaps best known for a handful of memorable hymn tunes which are still in regular use today, and for his oratorio, The Crucifixion, which remains popular with church choirs and choral societies. 

Peter Parfitt