Medieval leise

The medieval leise (a genre of vernacular medieval church song), which later became the first stanza, is documented in the 13th century, attributed to the Franciscan Berthold von Regensburg (died 1272), who quoted it in a sermon:^[2][3][4]

Nû biten wir den heiligen geist
umbe den rechten glouben allermeist,
daz er uns behüete an unsrem ende,
sô wir heim suln varn ûz disem ellende.
kyrieleis.^[3]

The stanza forms a prayer in German to the Holy Spirit, reminiscent of the Latin sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus.^[2][5] The concern is "most of all" (allermeist) the "right faith" (rechten glouben), considering to return "home" (heim) after the "exile" (ellende) of life. In the old German, "ellende" meant exile and was stressed on the second syllable, rhyming with "ende", whereas the modern "Elend" is stressed on the first syllable and translates to "misery".^[6] As in the conclusion of Veni Sancte Spiritus ("da salutis exitum"), the focus is the assistance of the Holy Spirit at the time of death.^[2]

The leise was widely known.^[2] A tune derived from the chant of the sequence first appeared in Jistebnitz around 1420.^[7] Aside from its Pentecostal origin, it was also used as a procession song and in sacred plays.^[8]

Luther's Protestant continuation

The Protestant reformer Martin Luther issued a liturgy for services in 1523, Formula missae et communionis. One aspect was the inclusion of hymns in German. He recommended, for lack of alternatives, three medieval songs to be sung regularly: "Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet", "Ein Kindelein so lobelich" and, probably as the gradual, "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist".^[2][5] The leise had a long tradition. Its topics of the right faith (rechter Glaube, veram fide) and the thought of the time of death must have appealed to Luther. He had mentioned veram fide in an early sermon about the leise (1509 or 1510), and promoted salvation by faith alone (sola fide). Anxiety in the hour of death was something that Luther dealt with all of his life, and he was not the only one.^[8]

In 1524, possibly for Pentecost,^[8] Luther expanded "Nun bitten wir" by three stanzas, addressing the Holy Spirit three more times, as "Du wertes Licht" (You esteemed light), "Du süße Lieb" (You sweet love) and "Du höchster Tröster" (You highest comforter).^[7][9] In the tradition of songs about the Holy Spirit, which mention its manifold gifts, three aspects are mentioned: light, love and comforter.^[8]

The three later stanzas can be seen as related to Paul's concept of "Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung" (faith, love, hope), which he expressed in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 13:13.^[10] Luther ended each stanza with "Kyrieleis", as in the medieval leise,^[11] and followed its irregular metre.^[12]

Catholic continuations

In 1537, Michael Vehe, a Dominican friar and theologian, used the medieval stanza as a starting point for a further three stanzas that are independent of Luther's.

Vehe's three stanzas read as follows:

Erleuchte uns, o ewiges Licht;
hilf, daß alles, was durch uns geschieht,
Gott sei wohlgefällig durch Jesum Christum,
der uns macht heilig durch sein Priestertum.
Kyrieleis.

O höchster Tröster und wahrer Gott,
steh uns treulich bei in aller Not;
mach rein unser Leben, schein uns dein Gnade,
laß uns nicht weichem von dem rechten Pfade.
Kyrieleis.

Dein heilge Lieb und Allgütigkeit
mache gnädig unser Herz bereit,
daß wir unsern Nächsten recht christlich lieben,
und stets bleiben in deinem heilgen Frieden.
Kyrieleis.

Like Luther, Vehe addresses the Holy Spirit three times, as eternal light, comforter and finally love and goodness. The prayer is firstly for actions pleasing God, secondly for a pure life, not deviating from the right path, and finally to love one's neighbour and remain in peace.

Vehe's version appeared with the chant melody in the first common German Catholic hymnal Gotteslob in 1975, as GL 870, for the Diocese of Limburg.

In the main section of the same hymnal, the hymn appeared as GL 248, again in a different version, with stanzas two to four written in 1972 by Maria Luise Thurmair, who closed with a fifth stanza modeled after Vehe's second. In the three inner stanzas, the Spirit is addressed, now as "Du heller Schein" (You radiant light), "Du stille Macht" (You silent power), and "Du mächtger Hauch" (You mighty breath). The melody of her song was a transcription of the chant in fixed rhythm.^[10][18] Thurmair's version was retained in the second edition of the Gotteslob in 2013, now as GL 348.