Veni Creator Spiritus

Praying for the Conclave with the ancient hymn to the Holy Ghost

In honor of the Conclave, which began today in Rome, today’s hymn is the Veni Creator Spiritus. This hymn to the Holy Ghost is sung at the Feast of Pentecost, the ordination of priests, the dedication of churches, and the election of popes, among other solemn liturgical ceremonies. At the beginning of Conclaves, the cardinals sing the Veni Creator, seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost as they undertake the important task of choosing the next successor to St. Peter.

The hymn is typically attributed to Rabanus Maurus, a 9th century abbot and Archbishop of Mainz, a German town whose archiepiscopal history traces back to St. Boniface. The hymn was first used at Vespers around the Feast of Pentecost, a practice traditionally retained to this day. As part of the Roman Breviary, the hymn was altered when Pope Urban VIII revised the Breviary in the 1630s. The hymn substantially remained the same, but some wording was changed slightly, and some of the melodic phrasing changed as a result. The following are links to the original ancient hymn and to the revised hymn from 1631 for your comparison:

Ancient hymn

1630s revised hymn

Despite Pope Urban VIII’s revisions, most priests continued to sing the original ancient version of the hymn that they had known all their lives, resulting in the continued usage of the ancient version. In the modern restoration of Gregorian Chant, begun in the 19th century and centered at Solesmes Abbey, the ancient version continued to be printed in books and sung at parishes who used Solesmes’s notations.

Today, the 133 cardinals chanted the Veni Creator Spiritus as they began the Conclave. The version that they sang, which you can hear in the video below, contained some choral verses beautifully sung by the Sistine Chapel Choir. For the chanted verses, the cardinals used a sort of hybrid version that incorporated elements of both the ancient hymn and Pope Urban VIII’s revised hymn.

Please enjoy listening to the video from today’s start of the Conclave below, and please keep the cardinals in your prayers as they choose the shepherd to lead the Catholic Church.