Come Down, O Love Divine

Seek Thou, This Soul Of Mine

Come Down, O Love Divine is a translation of the Italian poem, Di­scen­di, Amor San­to (The Holy Spirit Desired) by Bi­an­co of Si­e­na (c.1350-1434). He was an early member of the Jesuates, a penitent lay order founded by Giovanni Colombini (c.1300-1367) in 1360. Bi­an­co da Si­e­na wrote some 92 poems called laudi spirituali. He knew Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) and sent her one of these poems along with a lengthy letter. In 1867 Di­scen­di, Amor San­to was translated into English by the Anglo-Irish clergyman and writer, Dr. Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890). In 1906 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) composed the tune, Down Ampney specifically for the text. It is named after his birthplace of Down Ampney. In the Divine Office, Come Down, O Love Divine is used during Morning and Evening Prayer.


Tune: Down Amp­ney

COME DOWN, O LOVE DIVINE by Ri­chard Lit­tle­dale, 1867 (Public Domain)

Come down, O love divine,
seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardor glowing.
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
til earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let Thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.

Come, O Creator Spirit Blest / Ve­ni Cre­at­or Spir­it­us

Make Our Hearts O’erflow With Love

Come, O Creator Spirit Blest is a translation of the 9th century Latin Hymn, Ve­ni Cre­at­or Spir­it­us (see 2nd video) at­trib­ut­ed to Rha­ban­us Mau­rus (766-856). A Benedictine monk and theologian, he eventually became the Archbishop of Mainz and is considered one of the most important writers of the Carolingian Age. In 1849, the ancient Latin text was translated into English by Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878). It was included in his seminal work, the Lyra Ca­thol­i­ca: his collected translations of hymns from the Roman Breviary and Missal. The tune most associated with it is Lambillotte, written by the Belgium Jesuit, Fr. Louis Lambillotte (1797-1855). He was a composer and palaeographer of Church music. His efforts in palaeography involved the study, restoration, and standardizing of Gregorian Chant. Another translation of Ve­ni Cre­at­or Spir­it­us also used in the Liturgy of the Hours is Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, Come.


Tune: Lambillotte

COME, O CREATOR SPIRIT BLEST by Edward Caswall, 1849 (Public Domain)

1. Come, O Creator Spirit blest,
And in our souls take up Thy rest;
Come, with Thy grace and heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

2. Great Comforter, to Thee we cry;
O highest gift of God most high,
O Fount of life, O Fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above!

3. The sacred sevenfold grace is Thine,
Dread finger of the hand divine;
The promise of the Father Thou,
Who dost the tongue with power endow.

4. Kindle our senses from above,
And make our hearts o’erflow with love;
With patience firm, and virtue high,
The weakness of our flesh supply.

5. Far from us drive the foe we dread,
And grant us Thy true peace instead;
So shall we not, with Thee for guide,
Turn from the path of life aside.

6. O may Thy grace on us bestow
The Father and the Son to know,
And evermore to hold confessed
Thyself of each the Spirit blest.

Gregorian Chant

VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS - Rabanus Maurus, 9th century (Public Domain)

1. Veni, creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.

2. Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis,
caritas et spiritalis unctio.

3. Tu septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae
tu rite promissum
Patris sermone ditans guttura.

4. Accende lumen sensibus,
infunde amorem cordibus,
infirma nostri corporis,
virtute firmans perpeti. 

5. Hostem repellas longius
pacemque dones protinus;
ductore sic te praevio
vitemus omne noxium.

6. Per te sciamus da Patrem
noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

7. Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula. Amen.

Liturgical Guide: Sacred Heart

The hymns selected from the Liturgy of the Hours for use on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reflect the theme of God's merciful love for mankind. Although this feast day had been celebrated locally in France as far back as 1670, it was not made part of the liturgical calendar of the Universal Church until 1856. Over the next century popular Devotion to the Sacred Heart spread, but in recent decades it has declined. In the following video, Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B. of Salt+Light TV presents the case for a renewal of the devotion. Just as Devotion to the Sacred Heart in the 17th and 18th century had helped the Church see it's way through the crisis of Jansenism's severity and sectarianism; this practice of selfless love is needed now, more than ever to counter our individualistic and self-gratifiying modern world that gives little thought to eternity. This urgent need is best expressed in Christ's revelation given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: "Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing...and in return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege."



LITURGY OF THE HOURS (1975)
40. Love Divine All Loves Excelling
136. O Christ, Redeemer of Mankind
137. Heart of Christ
138. To Christ, the Prince of Peace
139. Come to Me
140. Shepherd of Souls, in Love Come, Feed Us

DIVINE OFFICE (1974)
All Ye Who Seek a Comfort Sure
The Love of God was Shown to Man