Veni Sancte Spiritus
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Holy_Spirit_as_Dove_%28detail%29.jpg/200px-Holy_Spirit_as_Dove_%28detail%29.jpg)
Veni Sancte Spiritus( “Come, Holy Spirit” ), sometimes called the “Golden Sequence”(Latin:Sequentia Aurea) is asequencesung in honour ofGod the Holy Spirit,prescribed in theRoman Ritefor theMassesofPentecost Sunday.[1]It is usually attributed to either the 13th-centuryPope Innocent III,or to theArchbishop of Canterbury,Stephen Langton,among others.
Veni Sancte Spiritusis one of only four medieval sequences which were incorporated into the Liturgy of theRoman Curia– a Roman carryover from thepre-Tridentine Masscelebrated before the standardisations by theCouncil of Trent(1545–63). It is therefore found in editions of theRoman Missalpublished in 1570; before the Tridentine Missal, manyfeastsalso had their own sequences.[2]Today, it is still sung or recited at Mass on Pentecost, generally before theGospelreading.
Text[edit]
Original Latin text[3] | Literal English translation | ICELEnglish translation[4] | J. M. Neale's translation[5] |
---|---|---|---|
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, |
Come, Holy Spirit, |
Holy Spirit, Lord of light, |
Come, Thou holy Paraclete, |
Indulgence[edit]
The 2004Enchiridion Indulgentiarumgrants a partialindulgenceto those who recite the sequence at sunrise or sunset; at the beginning or conclusion of one’s workday; and before or after meals.[6]
Musical settings[edit]
The sequence was set to music by a number of composers, especially during theRenaissance,includingDufay,Josquin,Willaert,Palestrina,John Dunstaple,Lassus,Victoria,andByrd.Marc-Antoine Charpentierwrote two settings, H.364, H.364 a, for 3 voices and bc (1690s) and H.366 for 3 voices and bc (1690s). Later composers who have set the text includeArvo Pärt,Morten Lauridsen,Frank La Rocca,George Fenton,andSamuel Webbe.[7]
References[edit]
- ^Liber Usualis,pp. 880-81. Solesmes 1961.
- ^David Hiley,Western Plainchant: A Handbook(OUP, 1993), II.22, pp.172-195
- ^"Veni, Sancte Spiritus".www.preces-latinae.org.
- ^"Holy Spirit, Lord of light, From Thy clear celestial height (Caswall) › Representative Texts | Hymnary.org".hymnary.org.
- ^"Come, Thou Holy Paraclete › Representative Texts | Hymnary.org".hymnary.org.
- ^Enchiridion Indulgentiarum,Concessiones,No. 26, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 4th edition, 2004, p. 71.ISBN88-209-2785-3.
- ^Come, Thou Holy Spirit, Come,Cyber Hymnal.
External links[edit]
- H.T. Henry.Veni Sancte Spiritus,in theCatholic Encyclopedia(1917)
- John Caldwell: 'Veni Sancte Spiritus', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 28 June 2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
- Scores for Veni Sancte Spiritusat theChoral Public Domain Library
- Gregorian chant version of Veni Sancte SpiritusinSolesmes notation