COME, HOLY GHOST, OUR SOULS INSPIRE
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you." Ezekiel
36:26-27
Words: Latin hymn, "Veni Creator Spiritus, Mentes tuorum visita";
attributed to Rhabanus Maurus, circa 800. Paraphrased by John Cosin in
Collection of Private Devotions in the Practice of the Ancient Church,
1627.
Music: "Veni Creator," Vesperale Romanum cum cantu emendato, Mechlin
(Malines), Belgium, 1848.
Alternate tune: * "Veni Creator (Dykes)," John Bacchus Dykes, 1875.
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire;
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost Thy sevenfold gifts impart.
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Praise to Thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Thy blessèd unction from above
Is comfort, life, and fire of love;
Enable with perpetual light
The dullness of our blinded sight.
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Anoint and cheer our soilèd face
With the abundance of Thy grace;
Keep far our foes; give peace at home;
Where Thou art guide, no ill can come.
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Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And Thee, of both, to be but One;
That through the ages all along
This, this may be our endless song.
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