De Trinitat
The Mystery of the Holy Trinity
The author introduces the foundational doctrine of the Trinity as a mystery to be held by faith in this life and understood by divine light in the next.
You are bound, dear son, to believe in the holy Trinity of our Lord God—that Trinity which is one God who is in trinity, that is, Father and Son and Holy Spirit; and believing in one God is the first article, believing in God the Father is the second article, believing in God the Son is the third, and believing in God the Holy Spirit is the fourth.1 God the Father begets God the Son from himself, and from God the Father and God the Son proceeds God the Holy Spirit; and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God alone. God the Father begets God the Son infinitely, eternally, and with complete perfection, and God the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father and from God the Son.2 The Father is one, and the Son another, and the Holy Spirit is another, and all these three persons are one power, one wisdom, one love. Son, what I tell you about God's Holy Trinity and His unity is true—and even better than I can put into words. If you believe this by the light of faith in this world, you'll understand it in the next by the light of an understanding illuminated by the divine intelligence.
Faith, Humility, and the Child's Mind
The author explains the necessity of humble faith over intellectual pride and clarifies that the simplicity of his teaching is designed to elevate the child's will toward God.
Do you know why you, my son, can't understand—and yet are bound to believe—what you can't understand about the Holy Trinity? It's because God's unity and Trinity is greater than your understanding, and because I don't put it to you in a way you could understand.3 Don't disbelieve everything you can't understand; for if you do, you want to make your understanding greater than all things.4 And do you know why I speak to you so subtly?5 It's so your understanding might grow accustomed to lifting up and directing your will toward the love of God.6 Don't despise this book, son, just because it's told in a plain, rough way; it wasn't made for a lofty mind at all—rather, it was made so that children's minds can be lifted up to understand this world and God.7
Read the original Latin
Obligat est, amable fill, a creure en la santa Trinitat de nostro senyor Deu, la qual trinitat es un Deu qui es en trinitat, so es a saber, Pare e Fill e Sant Esperit: e creure en un Deu es lo primer arricie, e creure en lo Deu Pare es lo segon arricie, e creure en lo Deu Fill es lo terç, e creure en Deu Sant Spirit es lo quart.
Deus Pare engenra de si meteix Deu Fill, e de Deu Pare e Deu Fill ix Deus Sant Espirit; e lo Pare e lo Fill e lo Sant Espirit son un Deu tan solament.
Infinidament eternal e ab tot compliment engenra lo Deus Pare Deu Fill, e ix Deus Sant Espirit de Deu Pare e de Deu Fill.
Lo Pare es un, e lo Fill altre, e lo Sant Esperit es altre, e totes aqüestes tres persones son un poder, una saviea, una amor.
Fill, so quet dich de la Santa Trinitat de Deu e de la sua unitat, es axí e encara molt mils que not pusch dir: e si tu en est mon per lum de fe assó creus, en l altre segle ho entendrás per lum denteniment illuminat per la divinal intelligencia.
¿Sabs per que tu, fill, no pots entendre e est obligat a creure so que no pots entendre de la Santa Trinitat? es car la unitat e la trinitat de Deu es major que lo teu enteniment, e car yo not ho dich en manera que tu ho pusques entendre.
No descrees tot so que no pots entendre; car si ho fas, tu vols fer major ton enteniment a totes coses. ¿E saps per quet parle en axí suptilment? per so que ton enteniment sacustum a exalsar e endressar ton voler en amar Deu.
No menyspreus, fill, aquest libre per so car grossament es recomtat; cor jens es fet a exalsat enteniment, ans es fet per so quels enteniments dels infants pusquen esser exalsats a entendre aquest mon e Deu,
Notes
- 1 ↩Source arricie is medieval Catalan for 'article' (of the Creed / articles of faith); rendered as 'article'.
- 2 ↩Medieval Catalan 'compliment' here means fullness/perfection (not modern English 'compliment'); rendered as 'complete perfection' for Trinitarian generation.
- 3 ↩Old Catalan "not" = "no't" ("not to you"); "yo not ho dich" rendered as "I don't put it to you," preserving the dative force of the clitic.
- 4 ↩Old Catalan «fer major A a B» taken as comparative: make A greater than B. «descrees» is the negative imperative of descreure (to disbelieve / refuse belief).
- 5 ↩«quet» = «que» + enclitic «t» (to you); «suptilment» = subtilment, 'subtly / finely'.
- 6 ↩«sacustum» read as s'acostumi (become accustomed); «exalsar» elevate/raise; «endressar» (endreçar) direct/set in order. Both verbs govern «ton voler».
- 7 ↩Old Catalan grossament means coarsely/plainly/simply, not morally gross; recomtat is recounted/set out. Rendered as plain, rough storytelling suited to children.
Doctrine for Children — Opening companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit