
“BENEDÍCTA sit sancta Trínitas, atque indivísa únitas: confitébimur ei, quia fecit nobíscum
misericórdiam suam.” (Tobias 12. 6)
Dómine Dóminus noster, quam admirábile est nomen tuum in univérsa terra. (Psalm 8:2) ℣. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen”
BLESSED be the holy Trinity, and undivided Unity: we will give glory to Him, because He hath shown His mercy to us. Ps. 8. 2. O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is Thy Name in all the earth!
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. ℟. Amen.”
Guido Reni’s monumental oil painting (800 x 395 cm, approximately 26×13 feet) The Holy Trinity (1625), is a masterpiece of Baroque classicism. Commissioned by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, it is located above the high altar at the Church of the Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome.
The mystery of the holy Trinity is at the center of the Athanasian Creed (attributed to St Athanasius to reinforce the dogma of the Trinity during the council of Nicea in 325) used in the Roman Catholic Church as well as the other two Creeds. It is s also called the Quicumque vult, after its first words in Latin.
“Quicumque vult salvus esse, ante omnia opus est, ut teneat Catholicam fidem: Quam nisi quisque integram inviolatamque servaverit, absque dubio in aeternam peribit.
Fides autem catholica haec est: ut unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur. Neque confundentes personas, neque substantiam seperantes. Alia est enim persona Patris alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti: Sed Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti una est divinitas, aequalis gloria, coeterna maiestas. Qualis Pater, talis Filius, talis Spiritus Sanctus. Increatus Pater, increatus Filius, increatus Spiritus Sanctus. Immensus Pater, immensus Filius, immensus Spiritus Sanctus. Aeternus Pater, aeternus Filius, aeternus Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres aeterni, sed unus aeternus. Sicut non tres increati, nec tres immensi, sed unus increatus, et unus immensus. Similiter omnipotens Pater, omnipotens Filius, omnipotens Spiritus Sanctus.Et tamen non tres omnipotentes, sed unus omnipotens. Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres dii, sed unus est Deus.
Ita Dominus Pater, Dominus Filius, Dominus Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres Domini, sed unus est Dominus. Quia, sicut singillatim unamquamque personam Deum ac Dominum confiteri christiana veritate compelimur: ita tres Deos aut Dominos dicere catholica religione prohibemur. Pater a nullo est factus: nec creatus, nec genitus. Filius a Patre solo est: non factus, nec creatus, sed genitus. Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio: non factus, nec creatus, nec genitus, sed procedens. Unus ergo Pater, non tres Patres: unus Filius, non tres Filii: unus Spiritus Sanctus, non tres Spiritus Sancti.
Et in hac Trinitate nihil prius aut posterius, nihil maius aut minus: sed totae tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et coaequales. Ita ut per omnia, sicut iam supra dictum est, et unitas in Trinitate, et Trinitas in unitate veneranda sit. Qui vult ergo salvus esse, ita de Trinitate sentiat. Sed necessarium est ad aeternam salutem, ut incarnationem quoque Domini nostri Jesu Christi fideliter credat. Est ergo fides recta ut credamus et confiteamur, quia Dominus noster Jesus Christus, Dei Filius, Deus et homo est.
Deus est ex substantia Patris ante saecula genitus: et homo est ex substantia matris in saeculo natus. Perfectus Deus, perfectus homo: ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistens. Aequalis Patri secundum divinitatem: minor Patre secundum humanitatem. Qui licet Deus sit et homo, non duo tamen, sed unus est Christus. Unus autem non conversione divinitatis in carnem, sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum. Unus omnino, non confusione substantiae, sed unitate personae. Nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est homo: ita Deus et homo unus est Christus. Qui passus est pro salute nostra: descendit ad inferos: tertia die resurrexit a mortuis. Ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis: inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Ad cuius adventum omnes homines resurgere habent cum corporibus suis: et reddituri sunt de factis propriis rationem. Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam aeternam: qui vero mala, in ignem aeternum.
Haec est fides catholica, quam nisi quisque fideliter firmiterque crediderit, salvus esse non poterit. Amen.”
in English:
The Athanasian Creed
Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic faith. For unless a person keeps this faith whole and entire he will undoubtedly be lost forever. This is what the Catholic faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity. We distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance. For the Father is a distinct person; the Son is a distinct person; and the Holy Spirit is a distinct person.
Still the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is boundless. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.
Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being. Thus there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one uncreated being and one boundless being. Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But there are not three gods, but one God. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. There as not three lords, but one Lord. For according to Christian truth, we must profess that each of the persons individually is God; and according to Christian religion we are forbidden to say that there are three gods or lords. The Father is not made by anyone, nor created by anyone, nor generated by anyone. The Son is not made nor created, but he is generated by the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is not made nor created nor generated, but proceeds from the Father and the Son.
There is, then, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, but not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. In this Trinity, there is nothing greater, nothing less than anything else. But the entire three persons are coeternal and coequal with one another. So that, as we have said, we worship complete unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity.
This, then, is what he who wishes to be saved must believe about the Trinity. It is also necessary for eternal salvation that he believes steadfastly in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The true faith is: we believe and profess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and man. As God He was begotten of the substance of the Father before time; as man He was born in time of the substance of His Mother. He is perfect God; and He is perfect man, with a rational soul and human flesh. He is equal to the Father in His divinity, but He is inferior to the Father in His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ. And He is one, not because His divinity was changed into flesh, but because His humanity was assumed to God. He is one, not at all because of a mingling of substances, but because He is one person. As a rational soul and flesh are one man: so God and man are one Christ.
He died for our salvation, descended to hell, arose from the dead on the third day. Ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming, all men are to arise with their own bodies; and they are to give an account of their lives. Those who have done good deeds will go into eternal life; those who have done evil will go into everlasting fire.
This is the Catholic faith. Everyone must believe it, firmly and steadfastly; otherwise He cannot be saved. Amen.
in French:
Symbole de Saint Athanase
Quiconque veut être sauvé doit, avant tout, tenir la foi catholique : celui qui ne la garde pas
entière et pure ira, sans aucun doute, à sa perte éternelle.
Voici la foi catholique : nous vénérons un Dieu dans la Trinité et la Trinité dans l’unité ; sans
confondre les Personnes, sans diviser la substance ; autre est en effet la Personne du Père, autre
celle du Fils, autre celle du Saint Esprit ; mais le Père, le Fils et le Saint Esprit ont une même
divinité, une gloire égale, une même éternelle majesté. Comme est le Père, tel est le Fils, tel le
Saint Esprit ; incréé est le Père, incréé le Fils, incréé le Saint Esprit ; immense est le Père,
immense le Fils, immense le Saint Esprit ; éternel est le Père, éternel le Fils, éternel le Saint
Esprit, et cependant, ils ne sont pas trois éternels, mais un éternel, ni non plus trois incréés, ni
trois immenses, mais un incréé et un immense. De même, tout-puissant est le Père, tout-puissant
le Fils, tout-puissant le Saint Esprit, et cependant, ils ne sont pas trois tout-puissants, mais un
Tout-puissant. Ainsi le Père est Dieu, le Fils est Dieu, le Saint Esprit est Dieu, et cependant, ils
ne sont pas trois dieux, mais un Dieu. Ainsi le Père est Seigneur, le Fils est Seigneur, le Saint
Esprit est Seigneur et cependant ils ne sont pas trois seigneurs, mais un Seigneur. Car de même
que la vérité chrétienne nous oblige à confesser que chacune des Personnes en particulier est
Dieu et Seigneur, de même la religion catholique nous interdit de dire qu’il y a trois dieux ou
trois seigneurs.
Le Père n’a été fait par personne ; il n’est ni créé ni engendré ; le Fils ne vient que du Père, il
n’est ni fait ni créé, mais engendre ; le Saint Esprit vient du Père et du Fils, il n’est ni fait ni
engendré, mais il procède. Il n’y a donc qu’un Père, non pas trois Pères ; un Fils, non pas trois
Fils ; un Saint Esprit, non pas trois Saints Esprits. Et dans cette Trinité il n’est aucun avant ou
après, aucun plus grand ou plus petit, mais les Personnes sont toutes trois également éternelles
et semblablement égales ; si bien qu’en tout, comme on l’a déjà dit plus haut, on doit vénérer
et l’unité dans la Trinité et la Trinité dans l’unité. Celui donc qui veut être sauvé doit croire cela
sur la Trinité.
Mais il est nécessaire au salut éternel de croire fidèlement aussi à l’incarnation de notre
Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Voici la foi orthodoxe : croire et confesser que notre Seigneur JésusChrist est le Fils de Dieu, Dieu et homme. Il est Dieu, de la substance du Père, engendré avant
les siècles ; et il est homme, de la substance de sa mère, né dans le temps. Dieu parfait, homme
parfait, composé d’une âme raisonnable et d’un corps humain, égal au Père selon la divinité,
inférieur au Père selon l’humanité. Bien qu’il soit Dieu et homme, il n’y a pas cependant deux
Christ, mais un Christ ; un, non parce que la divinité a passé dans la chair, mais parce que
l’humanité a été assumée en Dieu ; un absolument, non par un mélange de substance, mais par
l’unité de personne. Car, de même que l’âme raisonnable et le corps font un homme, de même
Dieu et l’homme font un Christ. Il a souffert pour notre salut, il est descendu aux enfers, le
troisième jour il est ressuscité des morts, il est monté aux cieux, il siège à la droite de Dieu,
Père tout-puissant, d’où il viendra juger les vivants et les morts. À sa venue, tous les hommes
ressusciteront avec leurs corps et rendront compte chacun de leurs actes ; ceux qui ont bien agi
iront dans la vie éternelle, ceux qui ont mal agi, au feu éternel.
Telle est la foi catholique. Si l’on n’y croit pas fidèlement et fermement, on ne pourra être sauvé.
