SPIRIT DIVINE, ATTEND OUR PRAYERS

"Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayers" is a classic invocation to the Holy Spirit, often sung when a congregation gathers to ask for renewal and guidance. The hymn is built around a series of powerful, elemental images—light, fire, a dove, and rushing wind—each representing a different way the Spirit moves within us. When we sing this during Pentecost or at a Confirmation Mass, we are asking for that same "Pentecostal grace" to descend on our own parish and transform our hearts.

The verses unfold as a steady, earnest prayer. We ask the Spirit to come as light to reveal our path, as fire to purify our intentions, and as a dove to bring peaceful love to the Church. By the time the choir reaches the final verse, the focus shifts outward, praying that the Spirit will make a "lost world" His home.

This particular solfa arrangement includes a soaring descant by Tony Eluno for the final stanza. Adding a descant to the last verse is a favorite technique in the choir loft; it lifts the entire congregation's singing and brings a bright, triumphant energy to the final plea of "O come, great Spirit, come!"