Discendi, Amor santo

Come down, O Love Divine,
Seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing,
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,
And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming:
And let Thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
Mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing,
True lowliness of heart,
Whicht takes the humbler part,
And o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling,
For none can guess its grace,
Till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.

—Bianco de Siena, trans. Richard F. Littledale
From The People's Hymnal, 1877


Tune: "Down Ampney," Ralph Vaughan Williams (courtesy The Cyber Hymnal)

About the Authors

Bianco de Siena (d. 1434) was one of the first Jesuits, a Catholic order of unordained men that was suppressed by the pope it was founded under. Little is known about him beyond this association, his residence in Venice, and the hymns he wrote.

Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890) was a doctor of law who later took Holy Orders. He retired in 1861 due to ill health, and devoted himself to literature. Besides writing original hymns, he also translated hymns from Danish, Swedish, Greek, Latin, Syriac, German, and Italian.

Thoughts

I found this hymn on Fernando Ortega's album Come Down O Love Divine, which I highlighted a few weeks ago in "The God of Abraham Praise." His arrangement is beautiful; get it via iTunes or Amazon.

This is one of those perfect prayer hymns. I know I am filled with the Holy Spirit—I have Christ's promise to that effect—but how often I feel unfilled, unillumined, and unkindled. I want to turn to dust and ashes in the consuming heat of the Holy Spirit, and yet how hard to be clothed in charity and lowliness! So I can only pray for a continual change of heart that I may seek holiness. Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!

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