The sequence, which is from the Latin sequentia, meaning “that which follows,” was originally written to follow the Gospel Acclamation or Alleluia. The sequence was intended to extend and therefore emphasize the message of the Gospel Acclamation verse. In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the sequence comes before, not after the Alleluia, “The Sequence which, except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is optional, is sung before the Alleluia” (GIRM, n. 64). The number of sequences in the liturgy has been reduced to four: Victimae Paschali Laudes on Easter; Veni, Sancte Spiritus on Pentecost; Lauda Sion Salvatorem on Corpus Christi; and Stabat Mater on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15. The use of two of these sequences, the Victimae Paschali Laudes and Veni, Sancte Spiritus, is mandatory in the liturgy.
The Pentecost Sequence is a beautiful poetic prayer calling for the Holy Spirit to come among us as divine light, to comfort us in our labors and struggles, to heal our wounds and strengthen us, to bring us her seven-fold gifts. It reminds us that without the Holy Spirit we are nothing and are incapable of doing good. In one notable section that reads, “Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray,” we plead that our hearts be ever more open to God’s will and presence, and that our actions be brought back to the right path.
Commentary on the Golden Sequence
This hymn is not only an invocation. It is a prayer requesting that this divine Person dwell within us with his radiant fruit. One of the proper names of the Holy Spirit, after that of Love, is gift. Love is the first gift and the Divine Giver brings life to souls. “Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit.” “He dwells in you and speaks in you with ineffable groanings!” The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of Christ, whose “yoke is sweet and (his) burden light.” “When the Paraclete comes, He will teach you all things whatsoever I have taught you.” “He is “the Spirit of Truth.” “Do not resist the Spirit.”
Some unforgiveable sins are specifically against the Holy Spirit whereby one rejects the very sources of salvation and grace. He is called the Advocate, the Paraclete: the protector and the consoler. His grace softens souls like rain showers soften the dried soil to become ripe for germination. May we be always guided by this Spirit who keeps in us the balance and virtue between the extremes of fever and coldness.
The Holy Ghost descends on those souls who have the childlike spirit of submission to those who begot them. God’s child will be strong with God’s seven gifts. Virtue, like a healthy plant, cannot but grow under the rays of the Spirit of charity and truth, before finally introducing the soul thus perfected to Trinity’s bosom. On Pentecost, we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. Before Christ ascended into heaven, He told them His Spirit would arrive to comfort them. It is through the Holy Spirit that we experience God here, with us.
Groaning and the Holy Spirit
The Greek word stenagmos (Gk. στεναγμός) means to moan or to sigh and is mentioned twice in the New Testament (Acts 7:34 & Romans 8:26). “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning (stenagmos), and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.”
Naturally, Moses rightly trembled in fear and turned away. God responds by saying it would be appropriate for Moses to remove his sandals because the ground he was standing on, not the bush, was holy. God then comforted Moses that He had seen the afflictions caused by the Egyptians and that He had heard the Israelites groanings (stenagmos). This is important. The Israelites were experiencing a kind of affliction so great, so overwhelming, that they didn’t yet have the words to articulate what they were feeling and experiencing. Yet, God’s response is that He hears them. God doesn’t praise the Israelites for really taking the time to sit down, meditate, and think about how they feel. The Israelites didn’t wait until they had the appropriate words to bring before God. No, instead God hears and understands the language of their groaning, and He comes down, and saves them. God helps them because of what he saw and heard.
The Apostle Paul uses the same word, stenagmos (groanings) in Romans 8:26: Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings (stenagmos) too deep for words.
Featured image: Miniscalchi Altar by the Verona artist Francesco Morone (1471–1529) with the help of another Verona artist, Paolo Morando, also known as “Il Cavazzola” (1486–1522). Image credit: Jean Louis Mazieres / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
Nature and dignity 