Come, Holy Spirit, send forth from heaven the ray of your light. Come, Father of the poor; come, giver of gifts; come, light of hearts. Greatest comforter, sweet guest of the soul, sweet refreshment. In labor, rest; in heat, coolness; in tears, consolation. O most blessed light, fill the inmost heart of your faithful. Without your grace, there is nothing in man, nothing that is harmless. Cleanse what is unclean, water what is dry, heal what is wounded. Bend what is rigid, warm what is cold, straighten what is crooked. Grant to your faithful, trusting in you, your sevenfold gifts. Grant the reward of virtue, grant the deliverance of salvation, grant eternal joy. Amen. Alleluia.
CATHOLIC 13TH CENTURY AD
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Also known as Come Holy Spirit · The Golden Sequence · The Pentecost Sequence
Other forms
Latin (Veni Sancte Spiritus)
Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
et emitte caelitus
lucis tuae radium.
Veni, pater pauperum;
veni, dator munerum;
veni, lumen cordium.
Consolator optime,
dulcis hospes animae,
dulce refrigerium.
In labore requies,
in aestu temperies,
in fletu solatium.
O lux beatissima,
reple cordis intima
tuorum fidelium.
Sine tuo numine,
nihil est in homine,
nihil est innoxium.
Lava quod est sordidum,
riga quod est aridum,
sana quod est saucium.
Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.
Da tuis fidelibus,
in te confidentibus,
sacrum septenarium.
Da virtutis meritum,
da salutis exitum,
da perenne gaudium. Amen. Alleluia.
About this prayer
The Veni Sancte Spiritus is one of the four major medieval Latin sequences that survived the liturgical reforms of the Council of Trent in 1570 and remain in use in the Roman Catholic liturgy today. It is sung or recited at Mass on Pentecost Sunday and throughout the octave of Pentecost.
The prayer is sometimes called 'the Golden Sequence' for the precision and beauty of its Latin, which uses a tight three-line stanza form with internal rhyme and a building structure that moves from invocation, through description of the Spirit's gifts, to specific petition. It is considered one of the finest pieces of medieval Latin liturgical poetry.
The traditional attribution is to Pope Innocent III (1160-1216), and earlier to Stephen Langton (c. 1150-1228), the Archbishop of Canterbury best known for dividing the Bible into the chapter numbers still used today. Modern scholarship favors the attribution to Langton, who is now considered the most likely author based on stylistic analysis and the dating of the earliest manuscripts to the early 13th century AD.
When it's said
Sung at Mass on Pentecost Sunday and throughout the octave of Pentecost (the week following Pentecost) in the Roman Catholic Church. Also used as a private prayer for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, particularly at the beginning of any significant undertaking. In the Anglican tradition, modern liturgies sometimes include it at Pentecost services. It is one of the prayers traditionally said at the start of theological study, at the opening of ecclesiastical councils, and at retreat openings.
Notes on the text
The phrase 'sevenfold gifts' in the final stanza refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in Isaiah 11:2-3: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. This list, traditional in Catholic theology since the early Middle Ages, gives the prayer its specific shape: it is asking for the seven concrete spiritual gifts the tradition associates with the Spirit's work in the believer. The Veni Sancte Spiritus is distinct from the Veni Creator Spiritus, an older 9th-century hymn that is also widely used at Pentecost and at major liturgical openings. Both are addressed to the Holy Spirit and both have entered the modern Catholic and Anglican liturgical repertoire, but they are different prayers with different authors and different liturgical placements.
Common questions
Who wrote the Veni Sancte Spiritus?
Modern scholarship attributes the Veni Sancte Spiritus to Stephen Langton (c. 1150-1228), the Archbishop of Canterbury who is also credited with dividing the Bible into the chapter numbers still used today. The traditional attribution to Pope Innocent III is no longer favored by scholars based on stylistic analysis. The Latin text first appears in 13th-century manuscripts.
What is a sequence in Catholic liturgy?
A sequence is a hymn sung at Mass between the Alleluia and the Gospel, on certain principal feast days. The medieval Church had hundreds of sequences for various feasts; the post-Tridentine liturgical reform of 1570 retained only four for general use in the Roman Missal: the Victimae Paschali Laudes (Easter), the Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost), the Lauda Sion (Corpus Christi), and the Dies Irae (Requiem Masses). The Stabat Mater was later added for Our Lady of Sorrows.
What are the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit?
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in Catholic tradition are drawn from Isaiah 11:2-3: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They are distinct from the twelve fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23. The Veni Sancte Spiritus's reference to the 'sevenfold gifts' is asking specifically for these seven graces.
Source
Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1150-1228), traditional attribution. The Latin text first appears in 13th-century manuscripts and was incorporated into the Roman Missal of 1570 as one of the four Sequences retained after the post-Tridentine liturgical reform. English text from Father Francis X. Lasance, The Blessed Sacrament Book (1913), pp. 354-355. Public domain.
Last reviewed: June 2026 against primary source.