Sunday, May 23, 2010

Two Classic Hymns to the Holy Spirit


Come, True Light


Come, true light. Come, eternal live. Come, hidden mystery. Come, treasure without name. Come, ineffable reality. Come, inconceivable person. Come, happiness without end. Come, light without sunset. Come, infallible hope of all who must be saved. Come, awakened of all who sleep. Come, resurrection of the dead. Come, O powerful one who ever make and remake everything and transform everything with your power alone. Come, O invisible one, totally intangible and impalpable. Come, you who always remain still and at the same time are constantly moving. Come to us who languish in the nether regions, you who are above all the heavens. Come, O beloved name, everywhere invoked, whose being it is absolutely impossible for us to express, whose nature we can never know. Come, eternal joy. Come, incorruptible crown. Come, O scarlet robe of the great king. Come, crystalline belt clustered with jewels. Come inaccessible sandal. Come, royal purple. Come, truly sovereign right hand. Come, you whom my miserable soul has always desired. Come, the Alone to the alone, for you see that I am alone. Come, your who have separated me from everything and made me a solitary person in this world. Come, you who have become your desire itself in me, you who have caused me to want your, you, the absolutely inaccessible. Come, my breath and my life. Come, consolation of my poor soul. Come, my joy, my glory, my delight for ever. (Simeon the New Theologian, Hymns 949-1022)




Come, O Come


Come, O come, most excellent counsellor of the suffering soul...Come, you who cleanse from ugliness, you who cure plagues. Come, strength of the weak, supporter of the fallen. Come, doctor of the humble, conqueror of the proud. Come, O tender father of the orphans...Come, hope of the poor...Come, star of sailors, port of the shipwrecked. Come, O shining glory of all the living...Come, your who are the holiest of the spirits. Come and take pity on me. Conform me to yourself. (John of Frescamp, 1060 To the Holy Spirit)