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Veni, Sancte Spiritus! (IV)

Verses 7 and 8

 
Lava quod est sordidum,
riga quod est aridum,
sana quod est saucium.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
on our dryness pour your dew;
wash the stains of guilt away;

Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
melt the frozen, warm the chill;
guide the steps that go astray.

More literally, these verses read:

Wash what is dirty (or shabby),
moisten (bedew) what is dry,
heal what is hurt (or distressed).

Bend what is stiff (or inflexible),
warm (or caress) what is cold,
guide what has gone astray.

According to J. B. Phillips:

Every time we say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit," we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.

J. B. Phillips, Plain Christianity

The Spirit is indeed working to transform us. However, one source of our humility resides in the likelihood that not everything in us that needs fixing is going to be fixed in this life. And this fact of our own continued imcompleteness is also a source of compassion toward other people — also in whom not everything that needs fixing is going to be fixed in this life. Not to mention the possibility that what we think needs fixing in other people (or even in ourselves) may not be what God thinks needs fixing.

And so we continue to entrust ourselves to the Holy Wisdom of God.

Sister Rose Hoover, rc

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