The Trinity in the Litrugy

In the Creed professed at Mass, we affirm our belief in the Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son .... " At once the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, eternally proceeding from both, the Holy Spirit is-as articulated by St. Augustine-the mutual love of the Father and Son. "The Holy Spirit is a certain unutterable communion of the Father and the Son."

The Spirit is the inner-trinitarian bond of love. Reflecting who the Spirit is eternally in the life of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit works in the Church as the source of her life and unity. In harmony with this dynamic, the Catechism of the Catholic Church outlines the Holy Spirit's work in the liturgy through four central actions. Firstly, the Holy Spirit prepares the Church to encounter Christ in her sacramental celebrations, forming in her members the proper dispositions. In the economy of salvation, the Father sends the Son, and the Father and Son jointly send the Spirit. In the liturgical return to the Father, the path is reversed: the Spirit readies the Church to encounter the Lord Jesus through whom we have access to the Father.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit serves as the living memory, and imparts a spiritual understanding of the Word of God to the faithful and uses the liturgical actions and symbols to establish them in relationship with Christ. "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26). Thomas Aquinas taught that "everything which is from another manifests that from which it is. Thus the Son manifests the Father because he is from the Father." The Holy Spirit reveals the Son from whom he eternally proceeds while recalling Christ's words to the Church.

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit brings about the presence of the mystery of Christ in each liturgical celebration. Unlike a mere commemoration of a past event lost to history, the Paschal Mystery becomes, in some way, contemporaneous with each liturgical celebration. This profound reality is achievable only through the power of the Holy Spirit. What was limited in time and space in the humanity of Christ is made universal and accessible through the outpouring of the Spirit.

Finally, in the liturgy the Holy Spirit unites the Church in communion with Christ. Through the transformative work of the Spirit, the liturgy molds the faithful into the mystical Body of Christ. Just as the Spirit is the bond of love common to the Father and Son, in the liturgy, the Spirit acts as the bond of communion uniting the Church with the Trinity and fostering fraternal communion among its members.