Comfortable Words

Hymns of the English Church

Come, Holy Ghost, Thine Influence Shed

A short poem about the transformation of the communion bread and wine by the action of God’s Spirit.

By Charles Wesley 1707-1788

Communion service in the Uspensky Cathedral of the Pechersk Lavra, Kiev (Moscow Patriarchate).

Photo by Столичный Благовестник, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

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Come, Holy Ghost, Thine Influence Shed

Photo by Столичный Благовестник, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Source

Communion service in the Uspensky Cathedral of the Pechersk Lavra, Kiev (Moscow Patriarchate).

Onuphry, Metropolitan (Archbishop) of Kiev in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, cuts into the communion bread with a lance during the celebration of the divine liturgy in the Uspensky Cathedral of the Pechersk Lavra monastery on July 12th 2019, the feast of St Peter and St Paul. Each small piece represents the prayers spoken by the priest, remembering the living and the dead.

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Introduction

In Charles Wesley’s day, the change effected to the bread and wine in the eucharist was a matter of bitter and often ill-informed dispute. Here, he echoes the wise words of eighth-century monk St John Damascene, and simply asks the Holy Spirit to be present and to do those things which surpass reason and thought.

COME, Holy Ghost, thine influence shed,
And realize the sign;
Thy life infuse into the bread,
Thy power into the wine.

Effectual let the tokens prove,
And made, by heavenly art,
Fit channels to convey thy love
To every faithful heart.

By Charles Wesley 1707-1788

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