Veni Creator Spiritus

"Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest." The Church's great hymn to the Holy Spirit — sung at Pentecost, at Confirmation, at the election of a pope — in Latin and English.

Before a conclave elects a pope, before a man is confirmed a soldier of Christ, before the Church ordains her priests or opens a new year, she does not improvise — she sings. Veni Creator Spiritus — "Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest" (in older English, "Come, Holy Ghost") — is the hymn the Church has used for more than a thousand years to call the Third Person of the Trinity down upon the work of God. It does not ask the Spirit to comfort us into ease; it asks the Creator Himself to kindle the mind, arm the weak, and drive off the enemy. When the Church has a battle to begin, this is how she begins it.

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Veni Creator Spiritus — in Latin & English

The hymn to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And in our hearts take up thy rest; Come with thy grace and heavenly aid To fill the hearts which thou hast made. O Comforter, to thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God most high, O fount of life and fire of love, And sweet anointing from above. Thou in thy sevenfold gifts art known; Thou, finger of God's hand, we own; Thou, promise of the Father, thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue. Kindle our senses from above, And make our hearts o'erflow with love; With patience firm and virtue high The weakness of our flesh supply. Far from us drive the foe we dread, And grant us thy true peace instead; So shall we not, with thee for guide, Turn from the path of life aside. Oh, may thy grace on us bestow The Father and the Son to know, And thee, through endless times confessed, Of both the eternal Spirit blest. All glory while the ages run Be to the Father and the Son Who rose from death; the same to thee, O Holy Ghost, eternally. Amen.Veni, Creator Spiritus, Mentes tuorum visita, Imple superna gratia Quae tu creasti pectora. Qui diceris Paraclitus, Altissimi donum Dei, Fons vivus, ignis, caritas, Et spiritalis unctio. Tu septiformis munere, Digitus paternae dexterae, Tu rite promissum Patris, Sermone ditans guttura. Accende lumen sensibus, Infunde amorem cordibus, Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti. Hostem repellas longius, Pacemque dones protinus; Ductore sic te praevio Vitemus omne noxium. Per te sciamus da Patrem, Noscamus atque Filium, Teque utriusque Spiritum Credamus omni tempore. Deo Patri sit gloria, Et Filio, qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito, In saeculorum saecula. Amen.

Versicle, response, and prayer

V. Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created. R. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.V. Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur. R. Et renovabis faciem terrae. Oremus. Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti: da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere; et de eius semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

What it is

The Veni Creator Spiritus is the Church's principal hymn to the Holy Spirit — a direct invocation of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity under His title of Creator, the giver and renewer of life. Across seven short stanzas it names the Spirit as Paraclete (Comforter), living fountain, fire, and love; it recalls His sevenfold gifts and His procession from the Father and the Son; and it begs Him to kindle the mind, pour love into the heart, strengthen the weakness of the body, drive off the enemy, and grant peace. Like every hymn of the Church, it closes with glory to the Father, to the Son who rose from death, and to the Holy Spirit.

Where it came from

The hymn dates to the ninth century and is traditionally attributed to Rabanus Maurus (c. 776–856), the Benedictine monk who became Archbishop of Mainz. It entered the Church's Divine Office early and has been sung at the hours of Pentecost for well over a thousand years. Because it is a prayer that begins great works, the Church set it at her most solemn beginnings — and there it has remained ever since.

When the Church prays it

The Church raises the Veni Creator whenever she calls the Holy Spirit down upon a decisive act: at the election of a pope, at the ordination of priests and bishops, at the consecration of a church, in the Sacrament of Confirmation, at the opening of councils and synods, and at the start of the new civil year. It is the proper hymn of Pentecost. By the Church's grant of indulgences, a plenary indulgence — under the usual conditions — is available to the faithful who recite it publicly on January 1st or on the feast of Pentecost. A shorter devotional form adds the versicle, response, and concluding prayer given above.

How to pray it

You need not wait for a great occasion. Pray the Veni Creator at the start of anything that requires the Holy Spirit and not merely your own strength — before study or discernment, before a hard conversation, at the beginning of the workday, before receiving a sacrament, or as a family before a new undertaking. Many pray it in Latin to join their voice to the Church's thousand-year chant; others pray the English. Either is right. When a decision or a season is beginning, add the versicle, response, and prayer, and ask the Creator Spirit to lead the work from its very first moment.

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