Come, Creator Spirit
By Rabanus Maurus,
Translation from the Latin by Arthur Evans
Come, Creator Spirit,
Visit the minds of your people.
Fill with grace from above
The hearts that you have made.
You, who are called the Inspirer,
Gift of God in highest Heaven,
Living Fountain, Fire, Love,
And Spiritual Anointing,
You, benefiting us in seven ways,
Finger of the Father’s hand,
You, the Father’s faithful promise,
Enriching tongues with speech,
Light a lamp amid our senses,
And into our hearts, pour love.
Fortify with lasting virtue
The weakness of our bodies.
Push back the foe, far away.
Let peace be near at hand.
Be thus our leader, out in front,
To save us everywhere from harm.
May we, through you, discern the Father
And learn as well the Son,
And also trust in you,
Their Spirit, throughout all time.
Glory be to God the Father,
And to the Son, arisen from the dead,
And to the Inspirer,
For age on age to come.
Amen.
= = =
Veni, Creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita.
Imple superna gratia
quae creatis 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.
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Arthur Evans is the author of Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture (1978) The God of Ecstasy: Sex Roles and the Madness of Dionysus (1988) and Critique of Patriarchal Reason (1997). He lives in San Francisco.