Music for Pentecost

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire – Text: Latin (9th century); tr. John Cosin (1594-1672) / Music: Mechlin plainsong, Mode 8

Of all the Latin hymns, ‘Veni creator Spiritus’ (Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire), this Sunday’s entrance hymn in church, has probably made the deepest impression on the church. Scholars believe it dates from the 9^th century, and that it comes from northern France or possibly the Rhineland. It was used quite early as an office hymn to commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and for that reason it came to be associated with the ordination of bishops and priests and with the coronation of Christian emperors and kings. The original text consists of six stanzas of four lines. The most familiar translation is that of John Cosin (1594-1672), found in our Common Praise and New English Hymnal collections. Cosin translated ‘Veni creator Spiritus’ not as a hymn to be sung, but as private devotional material to be recited each morning “in commemoration of the hour when God the Holy Ghost came down upon the church.”

The Mechlin version of the plainsong melody Veni Creator is in common use with Cosin’s translation today. In this version, the ancient melody is to be found in Vesperale Romanum, which came into being at Malines, Belgium, in 1848. The purpose of that book was to restore the plainsong idiom, which at that time had largely been forgotten in the church. This melody has inspired countless musical compositions, including this Sunday’s prelude and postlude in church.

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 our 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. Amen.

Gerald Harder