Peter Carruthers
Last Sunday (24 May) in the Western Church Calendar was Pentecost Sunday and this week is Pentecost Week culminating in Trinity Sunday on 31 May (when the Eastern Orthodox Church Church will celebrate Holy Pentecost). The Jewish biblical feast of Shavuot (ie Pentecost) was celebrated this year on 21-23 May.
If you attended a church last Sunday it is very likely that you sung at least one of the many hymns written over the centuries that invite the Holy Spirit to ‘come’. Most ancient among these is ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’, a Latin hymn attributed to Rabanus Maurus, a ninth-century Benedictine monk, teacher, archbishop, and saint.
The hymn has been translated and paraphrased many times since. Here is the Latin text with a literal translation alongside; several of the best-known English versions are collated here.
The text encapsulates many biblical themes.
The Holy Spirit is Creator “hovering over the face of the waters” at the beginning of Creation (Genesis 1:1) and continually sustaining and renewing it (Psalm 104:30).
He is the Paraclete, the Comforter, Advocate, and Helper, the gift and “promise of the Father”, the Spirit of truth sent by Jesus to “lead us into all truth” and “teach us all things” (Luke 24:49; John 14:15-27, 16:13-15; Acts 1:4).
He is the ‘sevenfold’ Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2).
The Holy Spirit is the One who pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), strengthens us in our weakness (Romans 8:26) and aids us in our struggle against the enemy (Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 John 4:4).
Versions of Veni Creator Spiritus are sung not only at Pentecost, but also on special occasions in the life of churches and even of ‘Christian’ nations.
Here are the Cardinal Electors of the Roman Catholic Church chanting Veni Creator Spiritus in the Sistine Chapel at the Conclave prior to electing Pope Leo XIV in 2025.
A shorter English version of Veni Creator Spiritus was written by Bishop John Cosin for the coronation of King Charles I in 1626, incorporated into the 1662 revision of Book of Common Prayer, and have been used at every coronation since. (The text is below at the end of this article.) Here it is being sung at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. At the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023, the words were sung for the first time in Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic and Welsh as well as English.
Finally, one of the best known English versions is that by the poet John Dryden (1631-1700), which you can read here and listen below to it being sung at Westminster Chapel in 1965, then under the leadership of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones!
These three are just some examples of the use of this ancient hymn in the worship and life of churches and our nation. I hope the beauty of the words and music and the settings above prompt us to pray for, and expect, the Holy Spirit to come to our aid in our own lives, the lives of our churches, and especially in our current times, in the life of our nation and its leaders.
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
and lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
Thy blessed unction from above
is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our blinded sight.
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
with the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far from foes, give peace at home:
where thou art guide, no ill can come.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but One,
that through the ages all along,
this may be our endless song:
Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(John Cosin, 1626)
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