The Medieval Church · c. 9th century; attribution debated
Veni Creator Spiritus
Attributed to Rabanus Maurus · c. 780 – 856
What it is
Seven stanzas calling the Spirit to visit the minds he made — the finger of God's right hand, the gift, the living fount, fire, love — and asking him to pour speech into the mouth and light into the senses.
Why it lasted
Sung at every ordination, every papal conclave, and the opening of councils, and translated into English by Dryden and by Cosin for the Book of Common Prayer. Probably the most performed Latin hymn in Christian history.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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