I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as I heard the organ intone the first notes of the Veni Creator Spiritus. It was June 2, 2017, at the Circus Maximus in Rome – the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal with some 35,000 people from all over the world in attendance. I couldn’t help thinking that this very hymn, with the Gregorian chant melody, was sung often on the Duquesne Weekend. And here we were, 50 years later, singing it in Rome, with two of the original participants – my wife Patti and David Mangan – present on the stage. It was a special moment for me and, indeed, for all attending.
This hymn is, of course, mightily blessed and anointed. It is commonly attributed to Rabanus Maurus, Abbot of Fulda and Archbishop of Mainz, in the ninth century. It has been sung ever since then as the Church’s official invocation of the Holy Spirit at all solemn ecclesial occasions: before papal elections, at ordinations, religious professions, dedication of churches, for Church synods and councils.
It is difficult to find a translation to truly do justice to the Latin original. For that reason, I want to give a fairly literal translation here, sacrificing poetic beauty in order to try to bring out the actual meaning of the original text. May I suggest that you take some time to prayerfully ponder these words.
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come, Creator Spirit,
Visit minds that belong to you;
Fill with heavenly grace
Hearts which you created.
You who are called Paraclete,
Gift of God most high;
Living font, fire, love,
And spiritual anointing.
You, sevenfold in your gifts,
Finger of the Father’s right hand;
You were duly promised by the Father,
Enrich throats with speech.
Turn on the light to (our) senses,
Pour love into (our) hearts;
The weakness of our bodies
Strengthen with lasting power.
Repel the enemy far away,
And give us peace right now;
(With) you as leader going ahead
May we avoid all harm.
Through you may we know the Father,
And recognize the Son;
And may we all the time
Believe in you, Spirit of both.
To God the Father be glory,
And to the Son, who from death
Rose, and to the Paraclete
Forever and ever. Amen.
HOLY SPIRIT, COME!
We often use the terms “anointed” or “inspired” very loosely, to praise anything we happen to like. In the case of this particular hymn, however, I think those are the only appropriate words to use. It seems that only the Holy Spirit himself could be the source for these lyrics, and, I would even dare to say, for its chant melody as well. Indeed, St. Gregory the Great - for whom Gregorian chant is named - is often depicted with a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) near his ear as a sign that he was “inspired.”
We celebrate Pentecost Sunday this month. However, we can’t just invoke the Holy Spirit once a year! When my wife and I got engaged, we made a commitment to say a prayer together to the Holy Spirit daily. We prayed the Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus. At one point we considered replacing it with the Veni Creator Spiritus. We found that we couldn’t choose between them, so we decided to pray them both. We can never ask for “too much” of the Holy Spirit. This Pentecost, let us pray that we are all touched by “the finger of the Father’s right hand” and are filled with his “fire, love, and spiritual anointing!”