Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire

 

On Sunday, we look forward to a service of Baptism and Confirmation at St Mary's. Bishop Steven Croft will be presiding and preaching for the last time as Bishop of Oxford. The service to mark the end of his ministry as our Bishop will take place at Christ Church Cathedral later on the same day. While this will be a day of mixed emotions as we say farewell to a much-loved Bishop and give thanks for his ministry among us, it will also be a day of great joy and excitement as we welcome new members of our church community and pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives: Confirm, O Lord, your servant N. with your Holy Spirit.

 

The hymn which is sung on these occasions can be found in the Book of Common Prayer 1662. It is a translation of a much earlier Latin hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, from the ninth century.  The translation comes from John Cosin (1694-1672), a former Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, who eventually became the Bishop of Durham. Although Cosin was caught up in some of the challenging religious disputes of the English Civil War, we might look on his legacy now as quintessentially Anglican: there is a profound sacramentality about his writings, imbued with a deep biblical literacy, and yet there is also a charismatic accent, acknowledging the way in which the Holy Spirit animates our lives, bringing comfort, consolation and strength. His hymn ends with an expression of praise, which is entirely fitting for Trinity Sunday:

 

 

Please pray for those to be baptised and confirmed on Sunday, and please come and support them as they make their commitment to Christ.