Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator

Spiritual Life, Winter 2003 by Jordan, Regis

Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator. By Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2003. Pp. 403. Paper. $19.95.

Ever since its composition in the ninth century, the use of the Veni Creator in the liturgy of Pentecost and in Christian assemblies has been constant, as one continuous, solemn invocation of the Paraclete. With its wealth of insights and thought-provoking images, this hymn is like a magnificent fresco of the Holy Spirit at work in salvation history and in the life of the Church. Following the structure of the ancient hymn, Father Cantalamessa gives us a meditation for each verse and builds a complete treatise-a theological and spiritual Summa-on the Holy Spirit, drawn from Scripture, the Church Fathers, the liturgy, and from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. Its language, however, is far removed from theological discourse but inspired by symbol, image and song, by poetry and liturgy, by prophecy and living models of holiness.