Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit)

Considered one of the best Latin poem ever written, the Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) has been sung during the Masses of Pentecost since the Middle Ages. No one really knows who wrote it, but the two most likely candidates are Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton (c. 1160-1228) and Pope Innocent III (c.1160-1216).

While today is the first time I have heard of this poem/song, the message is one that I have been praying for many years. Within the Vineyard the cry of “come, Holy Spirit” is one of the earliest prayers we have, dating back to Mother’s Day in 1980 when Lonnie Frisbee prayed that prayer at John Wimber’s church in Yorba Linda, California. The rest they say is history.

Below is the English version of the poem (a video of it sung in Latin can be found here)

Come, Holy Spirit,
Send forth the heavenly
Radiance of your light.

Come, father of the poor,
Come, giver of gifts,
Come, light of the heart.

Greatest comforter,
Sweet guest of the soul,
Sweet consolation.

In labor, rest,
In heat, temperance,
In tears, solace.

O most blessed light,
Fill the inmost heart
Of your faithful.

Without your grace,
There is nothing in us,
Nothing that is not harmful.

Cleanse that which is unclean,
Water that which is dry,
Heal that which is wounded.

Bend that which is inflexible,
Fire that which is chilled,
Correct what goes astray.

Give to your faithful,
Those who trust in you, The sevenfold gifts.

Grant the reward of virtue,
Grant the deliverance of salvation,
Grant eternal joy.
Amen. Alleluia.

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