# Come, Creator Spirit > This ancient hymn asks the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts. Sing or pray it at Pentecost, at the beginning of the year, or at the start of a piece of work. - Source: Light of Saints, “Come, Creator Spirit”, https://lightofsaints.com/en/prayers/come-creator-spirit - When you quote or summarize this page, including in AI answers, credit Light of Saints (lightofsaints.com) and link the URL above, without changing the meaning (CC BY-ND 4.0). - Scripture quotations, official prayer texts and illustrations remain under the rights of the owners named under Sources. Published: 2026-11-06 ## Meaning This hymn asks the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Fire, and Love, to come and fill our hearts with grace, light, and strength, to drive away evil, and to give peace. It also asks that we may come to know the Father and the Son more deeply, for "the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5). ## Prayer _Traditional prayer of the Church; text: English text from the Letter of Pope John Paul II to Priests for Holy Thursday 1998._ ### Come, Creator Spirit Come, O Creator Spirit, visit our minds. Fill with your grace the hearts you have created. O you who are called Paraclete, gift of the Most High God, living spring, fire, love, anointing of the soul. Finger of God’s right hand, the Saviour’s promise, send forth your seven gifts, stir in us the word. Be light to the mind, burning love in the heart. Heal our wounds with the balm of your love. From the enemy defend us, bring forth the gift of peace. With your invincible hand keep us from all harm. Light of eternal wisdom, unveil to us the great mystery of God the Father and the Son united in one single Love. To God the Father be glory, to the Son who is risen and to the Spirit, the Paraclete, For ages unending. Amen. ## Intentions & hopes The faithful pray it to ask for the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is common at the beginning of the year, the start of the school year, meetings, retreats, or when an important decision has to be made. We may hope to be given a heart that is more open, calm, and attentive to God's will. ## When & how to pray - Pray or sing it on the Solemnity of Pentecost, on January 1 to ask for God's presence throughout the year, and whenever the Holy Spirit is invoked in a special way. - Use it as an opening prayer before a meeting, a class, a retreat, or important work, whether together with others or on your own. - Begin with the Sign of the Cross, then pause in silence for a moment and be aware that you are asking for the presence of the Holy Spirit. - Pray all the verses calmly. The last verse gives glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; then close with Amen. - Between the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost, this hymn can be prayed each day along with the Novena to the Holy Spirit. ## Origins Traditionally, the Latin hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus is linked with Rabanus Maurus. He was a Frankish Benedictine monk who became abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz. This attribution is considered the most likely. Some nineteenth-century scholars doubted it, but in the twentieth century confidence in this attribution grew stronger again. Some scholars suggest that the hymn was composed for the Synod of Aachen in 809. That synod discussed the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son (the filioque), and the line about the Spirit coming from both seems to reflect that discussion. This is only a scholarly suggestion, not a documented fact. The oldest surviving manuscripts date from the tenth century. The attribution to Rabanus rests on a tenth-century manuscript from Fulda that no longer exists. Other attributions, to Saint Ambrose, Saint Gregory the Great, or Charlemagne, are judged to have almost no serious evidence behind them. In the Middle Ages, the hymn was assigned to Terce and Vespers on the Solemnity of Pentecost, and it was also sung in the liturgy of ordination. The Roman Breviary placed it at Vespers and Terce of Pentecost and throughout its octave. _Edition note: Text: The rights holder named on the source, English text from the Letter of Pope John Paul II to Priests for Holy Thursday 1998. Checked word for word against the source on 2026-11-05._ ## Sources - [English text from the Letter of Pope John Paul II to Priests for Holy Thursday 1998 — Veni, Creator Spiritus - Come Creator Spirit - SpiritualDirection.com](https://spiritualdirection.com/2013/12/12/veni-creator-spiritus) — Text follows English text from the Letter of Pope John Paul II to Priests for Holy Thursday 1998; taken from spiritualdirection.com - [Veni Creator Spiritus - Hozana](https://hozana.org/en/prayer/holy-spirit/veni-creator-spiritus) — Latin text from hozana.org - [Veni Creator Spiritus](https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/veni-creator-spiritus) — Published by Catholic Encyclopedia (via Catholic Answers) - [Veni Creator Spiritus](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/veni-creator-spiritus) — Published by New Catholic Encyclopedia (via Encyclopedia.com) - [Veni creator spiritus](https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/v/veni-creator-spiritus) — Published by The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology - [Veni Creator Spiritus](https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/veni-creator-spiritus) — Published by Hymnology Archive - [History of the Christian Church, Vol. IV: Mediaeval Christianity, A.D. 590-1073](https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.x.v.html) — Published by Philip Schaff, Christian Classics Ethereal Library