Rabanus Maurus
776–856 · Germany · Medieval
Carolingian monk, abbot of Fulda and Archbishop of Mainz, 'the teacher of Germany', to whom the Pentecost hymn 'Veni Creator Spiritus' is traditionally attributed.
Life
Rabanus Maurus was born to a noble family in Mainz about 780 and educated at the Benedictine abbey of Fulda, where he was ordained deacon in 801. He studied under Alcuin at Tours and returned to Fulda as master of its school, which he made one of the great centres of learning in the Carolingian empire; he became abbot in 822. In 847 he was made Archbishop of Mainz, and he died in 856. He wrote biblical commentaries, works on education and grammar, and the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis, and was called 'Praeceptor Germaniae', the teacher of Germany.
As a Hymn Writer
'Veni Creator Spiritus', the Church's great Pentecost and ordination hymn, has long been attributed to him, though the attribution cannot be proved. Luther turned it into 'Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist', and it is sung in English as 'Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest'. The hymn confesses the Spirit as Creator, Comforter and giver of the sevenfold gifts, and ends in Trinitarian praise.
In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (3)
- Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest
- Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid
- Jesus, Brightness of the Father
Sources: Wikipedia, 'Rabanus Maurus'.