Gregorian Chant: The Eternal Song
By Cantor
Come, Holy Spirit!
Though we are again into ‘Ordinary Time”, the sheer joy of the sounds of the Pentecost Hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus and sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus echo in my ears. Just as the chants associated with other seasons of the liturgical year have particular characteristics, the hymns for Pentecost are musical “wind and fire”! I was reminded as we rehearsed last Wednesday night how Mary Berry began each of her chant sessions with this hymn – a beautiful invocation asking for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. What better way to open the Pentecost Eucharist than to ask for that same blessing!
Also like Easter, we responded to the “Alleluia” with the beloved Golden Sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus. Quite fabulous it is that the Holy Spirit inspired the Church to keep the Easter and Pentecost sequences! It is as though we have been given chant “send-offs” from the Holy Spirit to inspire us for the remainder of the liturgical year!
Veni, Creator Spiritus!
