Come, Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit has a special relationship with everything created by God, including us.
God’s constant, invisible creating work in the world is especially attributed to the Person of the Holy Spirit. While devotion to the Holy Spirit has historically been less common than many other devotions in our faith, this is part of what is known as the invisible mission of the Holy Spirit in the world – a humble, often unacknowledged role in God’s plan. The Holy Spirit, the bond of Love between the Father and the Son, is also our bond with them and the way in which God shares his divine life with us. The Spirit is like the air we breathe and the water we drink – fluids that we don’t notice because they surround us and sustain us at every moment. The word “spirit” means breath, because the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of grace is as essential as breathing air is to our natural life.
One of the most important ways to pray is to call on God by name, acknowledging that he is always present and at work in the world. Prayer is lifting the mind and heart to God, and can be as simple as saying, “Come, Holy Spirit!” These words (“Veni, Sancte Spiritus” in Latin) begin the sequence that we pray on Pentecost Sunday.
Sequences are poetic prayers that became very popular about a thousand years ago. They were sung between the first scripture readings and the Gospel reading on special feast days. They explain something about the meaning of the feast and praise God for the work of salvation that we celebrate on these special days. Today the only sequences used everywhere are on Easter and Pentecost, two celebrations of greatest importance in the Church.
Like the readings at Mass, the sequence can go by very quickly in the liturgy and it is very helpful to pray with it personally, allowing the truth expressed in the words to sink into your mind and heart.
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.
