After the readings of last Sunday’s Mass, the celebration of Pentecost, a most beautiful prayer or petition, called a Sequence, was set forth. And yesterday, I opened my mother’s Sunday Missal, and coincidentally, it rested upon the page containing this same prayer. I would like to share it with all of you:
Come, O Holy Spirit, come;
And from Thy heavenly Home
Shed a ray of Light divine.
Come, Thou, Father of the poor;
Come, with treasures that endure;
Come, to light this heart of mine.
Thou of all consoles best,
Thou the soul’s most welcome guest,
Grace, refreshment now bestow,
Thou in toil our comfort sweet,
Thou our Peace in passion’s heat,
Solace in the midst of woe.
Light Immortal! Light Divine!
Visit Thou these hearts of Thine
And our inmost being fill.
If Thou take Thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.
Heal our wounds; our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Do Thou bend the rigid will;
The frozen heart with fervor fill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
Upon those who trust Thee evermore,
Thee believe and Thee adore,
In Thy sevenfold gifts descend.
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them Thy salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen. Alleluia!
