Veni Sancte Spiritus by Sr. Gloria Ene Godwin

Veni Sancte Spiritus

 Sr. Gloria Ene Godwin,OP. 

Introduction 

Veni Sancte Spiritus ( come holy spirit) is known also as “Golden Sequence,” the Veni Sancte Spiritus is a beautiful, powerful prayer to the Holy Spirit that dates back to the thirteenth century. It is attributed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton.

When Jesus was about to go to the Father, He tells His disciples that He would not leave them alone. He would send another of the same kind as He to be with them. It was the Holy Spirit. “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) Jesus saw it necessary for the Holy Spirit to come and live in believers, because the New Covenant has a new way of life: human beings operating with the Holy Spirit within. Unfortunately, many us live our lives ignoring the Spirit. Yet, it is not possible to live the life Jesus wants us to live without the help of the Spirit.

Reasons why we need the Holy Spirit

1. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses of Jesus:

One of the reasons the Holy Spirit came is to give us power and boldness to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses …” (Acts 1:8) Many of us are afraid to speak about Jesus or believe they are unqualified. If you we saved, we have a testimony of how God saved us. we need the Holy Spirit to give us boldness. If we are speaking to someone who is sick, we need power to pray for them to be healed. If we ignore the Holy Spirit, then how can we possibly be good witnesses for Jesus?

3. The Holy Spirit gives us supernatural gifts:

The Christian life is supernatural. Every believer has been given a supernatural gift by the Holy Spirit. Think about it! The Holy Spirit has given you a spiritual, supernatural manifestation. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Cor 12:7-11) Unfortunately, most us Christians never use our gifts. Which gift do you have? If you don’t know, ask God to activate the gifts in you and to provide circumstances where your gifting will come out.