Refrain
Holy Ghost, come down upon Thy children,
Give us grace and make us Thine;
Thy tender fires within us kindle,
Blessèd Spirit, Dove divine.
1. For all within us good and holy
Is from Thee, Thy precious gift;
In all our joys, in all our sorrows,
Wistful hearts to Thee we lift. [Refrain]
2. For Thou to us art more than Father,
More than sister, in Thy love,
So gentle, patient, and forbearing,
Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove. [Refrain]
3. O we have grieved Thee, gracious Spirit!
Wayward, wanton, cold are we;
And still our sins, new every morning,
Never yet have wearied Thee. [Refrain]
4. Ah! Sweet Consoler, though we cannot
Love Thee as Thou lovest us,
Yet if Thou deign’st our hearts to kindle
They will not be always thus. [Refrain]
5. With hearts so vile how dare we venture,
King of kings, to love Thee so?
And how canst Thou, with such compassion,
Bear so long with things so low? [Refrain]
Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >
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