A Hymn for Pentecost

We sang this hymn last Sunday in church. The phrases "our blinded sight" and "much-soiled faces" caught my attention. This hymn comes from a very ancient source, the words having been written by Rhabanus Maurus in around 800 A.D. (Whoever he was??? I didn't have time to google him.) It was translated by John Cosin in the 1600's in his Collection of Private Devotions in the Practice of the Ancient Church. The words of this hymn are wonderful!

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Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire

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Verse 1:

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,

Ignite them with celestial fire;

Spirit of God, you have the art

Your gifts, the sevenfold, to impart.

Verse 2:

Your blest outpouring from above

Is comfort, life, and fire of love.

Illumine with perpetual light

The dullness of our blinded sight.

Verse 3:

Anoint and cheer our much-soiled face

With the abundance of your grace.

Keep far our foes; give peace at home;

Where you guide us, no ill can come.

Verse 4:

Teach us to know the Father, Son,

And you, of both, to be but One

That, as the ceaseless ages throng,

Your praise may be our endless song!

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Cyberhymnal link: www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeholy.htm