Come, Holy Spirit
"Fill the hearts of thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of thy love." The prayer that calls down the Holy Spirit.
Before anything that needs light — a decision, a hard conversation, work that matters, the start of prayer itself — the Catholic asks for the One who gives light. Come, Holy Spirit is the short, ancient prayer that calls the Third Person of the Trinity into the heart to do exactly what the Apostles received at Pentecost: to enkindle, to teach, to send.
The Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit
When to pray it
Pray it before anything that needs the Spirit's light — the start of work or study, a decision, a meeting, and the beginning of prayer or reading Scripture. It is the classic "prayer before" of the Catholic tradition. It is also prayed throughout the Holy Spirit Novena between the Ascension and Pentecost.
What it asks for
The prayer asks the Holy Spirit for two things in order: to fill and to enkindle — presence, then fire. The versicle, drawn from Psalm 104:30, asks the Spirit who hovered over creation to re-create and renew. The closing collect names the goal: not feeling but wisdom — to be "truly wise" by the Spirit's light. It is the prayer of Pentecost made personal, the same Spirit who descended in tongues of fire (Acts 2) asked to descend on one ordinary soul.