The Most Holy Trinity

The Creator and Lord of all so loved his people that for their salvation he sent his Son, the Prince and Savior of the faithful, who washed and dried our wounds. And he exuded the sweetest balm, from which flow all good things for salvation…. For the Father is the Father, the Son is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and these three Persons are indivisible in the Unity of the Divinity….

As the flame of a fire has three qualities, so there is one God in three Persons. How? A flame is madeup of brilliant light and red power and fiery heat. It has brilliant lightthat it may shine, and red power that it may endure, and fiery heat that it may burn. Therefore, by the brilliant light understand the Father, who with paternal love opens his brightness to his faithful; and by the red power, which is in the flame that it may be strong, understand the Son, who took on a body born from a Virgin, in which his divine wonders were shown; and by the fiery heat understand the Holy Spirit, who burns ardently in the minds of the faithful…. Therefore as these three qualities are found in one flame, so three Persons must be understood in the Unity of the Divinity.

And as three causes for the production of words are seen, so the Trinity in the Unity of the Divinity is to be inferred. How? In a word there is sound, meaning, and breath. It has sound that it may be heard, meaning that it may be understood, and breath that it may be pronounced. In the sound, then, observe the Father, who manifests all things with ineffable power; in the meaning, the Son, who was miraculously begotten of the Father; and in the breath, the Holy Spirit, who sweetly burns in them…. Therefore, in these three Persons recognize your God, who created you in the power of his divinity and redeemed you.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen

Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1179) was a German Benedictine nun, physician, composer, and mystic. She is a Doctor of the Church.