Iam Christus astra ascenderat,
regressus unde venerat:
promisso patris munere
sanctum daturus spiritum.
Solemnis urgebat dies
quo mistico septemplici:
orbis volutus septies
signat beata tempora.
Dum hora cunctis tertia
repente mundus intonat:
orantibus apostolis
Deum venisse nunciat.
De patris ergo lumine
decorus ignis almus est:
quo fida Christi pectora
calore verbi compleat.
Dudum sacrata pectora
tua replesti gratia:
dimitte nunc peccamina
et da quieta tempora.
Sit laus patri cum filio
sancto simul paraclito:
nobisque mittat filius
carisma sancti spiritus.
Amen.
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Christ had already ascended to heaven,
returning whence he had come,
to bestow, as the Father had promised,
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The appointed day was fast approaching,
the mystical seventh day on which the
cycle of the week had come round seven
times, marking a blessed occasion.
At the third hour in everyone’s hearing
the world suddenly re-echoed with
thunder, announcing to the Apostles
as they prayed that God had come.
And so from the light of the Father came
forth a fiery heat both beautiful and
revitalizing, which filled hearts believing in
Christ with the glowing fervor of the word.
As then in the past thou didst
fill reverent hearts with thy grace,
so now forgive our sins
and grant an age of peace.
Praise be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost,
and may the Son send us
the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
—transl. Paul Doe
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