Veni creator spiritus

Veni creator spiritus. Latin, possibly by Hrabanus Maurus* (ca. 780-856). This hymn is a rich tapestry of allusion to other hymn texts, liturgical prose texts, biblical texts, and texts relating to the ‘filioque’ controversy (see below). Modern attributions to Charlemagne, St Ambrose* and Gregory the Great* seem to have little foundation. ‘Veni creator spiritus’ may have been composed for the 809 Aachen synod, at which the Carolingians concluded that the belief that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son (‘filioque’) is necessary for salvation. The beginning of stanza 6, ‘per te sciamus da patrem noscamus atque filium’ (‘let us know the Father and the Son by you [the Holy...