A Sequence for Trinity and a Franciscan Musical Treasury

In 1902, the French provinces of the Order of Friars Minor undertook the publication of a richly variegated collection of chants gathered from manuscripts of their Order, under the title Cantus Varii in Usu apud Nostrates ab Origine Ordinis, Aliaque Carmina in Decursu Sæculorum Pie Usu Parta, that is, Various chants in use among our community from the origin of the Order and other songs in use piously composed in the course of the centuries. The prolix title is certainly accurate, and the pieces included range from medieval sequences and hymns to later Latin songs that are not strictly speaking Gregorian chants. Unfortunately, no information is included about the sources whence each piece was taken. Click here to download a PDF of the book.

Among the chants in honour of the Holy Trinity, the volume includes a sequence attributed to Adam of St Victor, the prolific 12th-century composer of liturgical poetry. It is found in several Dominican and Franciscan manuscripts, as well as in the books of a number of French dioceses. It also made its way into the books of the archdiocese of York, and was included in the first printed missal of that use (1509).

In the Cantus Varii, it is set to the melody of the sequence Lauda Sion.

Profitentes Trinitatem, Veneremur Unitatem, Pari reverentia;	Professing the Trinity, Let us venerate the Unity With like reverence;
Tres Personas asserentes,[1] Personali differentes A se differentia.	Let us assert Three Persons Differing from one another By a distinction of persons.
Hae dicuntur relative, Cum sint unum substantive, Non tria principia;	Persons are said relatively For they are one in substance, Not three principles.
Sive dicas tres vel tria, Simplex tamen est usia, Non triplex essentia.	Call them three persons or three principles, Yet the being is simple The essence is not three-fold.
Simplex esse, simplex posse, Simplex velle, simplex nosse,[2] Cuncta simplicia.	Simple being, simple potency, Simple will, simple knowledge, All things simple.
Non unius quam duarum Sive trium Personarum Minor efficacia.	The power of one Is not greater than that of two Or three persons.
Pater, Proles, Sacrum Flamen, Deus unus sed hi tamen Habent quaedam propria.	Father, Son, Holy Ghost, One God: yet they Have some proper qualities.
Una virtus, unum numen, Unus splendor, unum lumen, Hoc una quod alia.	One power, one God-head, One splendour, one light, In one and all.
Patri Proles est aequalis, Nec hoc tollit personalis Amborum distinctio.	The Father equal to the Son, But this doeth not not remove The distinction of persons.
Patri compar Filioque, Spiritalis ab utroque Procedit connexio.	Equal to the Father and to the Son, The Spirit’s connexion Proceedeth from both.
Non humana ratione Capi possunt hae Personae, Nec harum discretio.	By human reason These Persons cannot be grasped Nor their distinction.
Non hic ordo temporalis, Non hic situs, aut localis Rerum circumscriptio.	Here no succession of time, No circumscription of situation Nor of place.
Nil in Deo praeter Deum, Nulla causa praeter eum Qui causat causalia.[3]	Nothing in God but God, No cause but Himself The cause of all causes.
Effectiva vel formalis Causa Deus, et finalis, Sed numquam materia.	God is effective and formal cause As well as final, But never material.
Digne loqui de Personis Vim transcendit rationis, Excedit ingenia.	Speaking worthily of the Persons Transcendeth the power of reason, Exceedeth our talents.
Quid sit gigni, quid processus, Me nescire sum professus: Sed fide non dubia.	What is begetting, what proceeding, I confess I wot not, But not with doubting fath.
Qui sic credit non festinet, Et a via non declinet Insolenter regia;[4]	Let he who believeth this be not hasty And stray not Insolently from the royal way.
Servet fidem, formet mores, Non declinet ad errores Quos damnat Ecclesia.	Let him keep the faith, form his manners, And not stray into errors Which the Church condemneth.
Nos in fide gloriemur, Nos in una modulemur[5] Fidei constantia:	Let us glory in our fath, Let us together sing, In constancy of faith.
Trinae sit laus Unitati, Sit et simplex Trinitati Coaeterna gloria! Amen.	Praise be to the Triune Unity, And to the simple Trinity Coëternal glory! Amen.

^[1] Afferentes in Cantus Varii, a manifest typographical error.

^[2] Nolle in Cantus Varii, typo’.

^[3] Qui creat causalia in Cantus Varii.

^[4] In solenti regia in Cantus Varii, typo’.

^[5] Nos in via modulemur in Cantus varii.