Vengeance (Or. iMkij), the heathen goddess of retribution (Lat. Justitia), described as the daughter of Zeus (Hesiod, Op. 266) and Themis {Theog. 902) and the coadjutor (Trapadpog) of the former (Sophoc. (Jul. Col. 1384; Arrian, Alex, iv, 9; see Montfaucon, Antiq. I, ii, 8). The punishment of murderers is particularly ascribed to her; and, therefore, besides being the god- dess of punishment in a general sense, she is often to be considered the same as Nemesis or Vengeance (Eurip. Med. 1390 ; Dion Halic. xi, 37 ; see Mitscherlich, ad Horace, Od. iii, 2, 32; Palaiset, Ohserv. p. 347). The word occurs in Acts xxviii, 4, but its significance is there disguised in the A. V., which renders it "justice."' See Revenge.
Veni, Creator Spiritus {Come, Creator Spirit), is the beginning of a grand Pentecostal hymn, general- ly ascribed to Charlemagne. The original runs thus :
"Veni, Creator Spiritus, Meutes tiiorum visita, Imple snperna gratia Quae tu creasti pectora.
"Qui Paraclitus diceris Deique donnm altissimi, Fons viviis, ignis, caiitas Et spirltalis iinctio.
"Tu septifortnis mnneie, DextiiE Dei tu digitus, Tu rite proniissum Patria Sermoue ditans guttura.
"Accende lumen sensibns, lunnule ainoreni cordil)us, Inlirmii uostri corporis Viriute firmans perpeti.
"Hostem repellas longius I'aceinque donos proiiims, Diictoie sic te prievio Vitenius oniue uoxium.
"Per te sciamus, da. Pjitrera, Noscainus atque Filium, 'J'e utrinsque Spivitinn Credamus onini tempore.
"[Sit laus Patri cum Pilio, Snnctci siniul Paracleto, Noliisqne mittat Filius Charisma Saiicti Spiritus.]"
Til is hymn holds a peculiar place among the treas- ures which the ancient Church has transmitted to our service of song. It is not only a precious heirloom, but marks a period in the history of the Church, when, a great contest decided, the truth vindicated entered into the very life of the Church, and rang forth in gladsome accents of jjraise. Therefore it is, and ever will con- tinue, the grand Pentecostal hymn — not merely from its contents, sublime as these are, but as the earliest full expression, in the language of praise, of the scriptural doctrine concerning the work and the person of the Holy Ghost, attained after long and bitter fight. But tliat battle has rolled away ; not even its most distant echoes are heard in the liymn; and the Veni Creator is not a battle-song, not even one of victory, but of tri- umph and praise in the enjoyment of the fruits of vic- tory. Occupying the most advanced position, and, in- deed, the key to the whole, in the doctrine of the pro- cession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and Son, holding it securely against all adversaries, the Church bursts forth in prayer for his coming and for his work- ing, and in praise to his person, in that grand, full- toned Pentecostal hymn of the Veni Creator.
As already stated, popular tradition has ascribed the Veni Creator to Charlemagne, but this view is whollj' untenable. The learned Mone {Jhjmni Lat. Med.uEvi, i, 241) states that this hymn existed in MSS. prior to the date of Charlemagne. Besides, that emperor was by no means sufficiently master of Latin — not to speak of (ireek — to compose such a hymn in classical metre, so strictly observed as in this case. On the other hand, the evidence in favor of its composition by Gregory the Great is quite preponderating. Its contents and its form alike remind us of this author. To at least seven out of its twenty-four lines we can append strictly parallel passages and expressions from the undoubted writings of (Jregory. Besides, it resembles not only in charac- ter, but in the use of certain peculiar words and terms, the other hymns of Gregory, of which eight are con- tained in the Benedictine edition of his works, while the learned Mone traces no fewer than twelve to his pen. Again, the character of prayer mingled with praise, and the classical metre with partial rhymes, are also peculiar to Gregory. The writer evidently knew Greek, as appears from the correct cpiantitj- in the word Paraclitus, in line 5, wdicreas it is incorrectly given in line 26. Hence the whole of this concluding stanza, which we have put in brackets, is evidently a spurious addition. It is needless in itself, since the doxologj' is already contained in the four jirevious lines; and it dif- fers from the rest of tlie hymn in its wrong metrifica- tion, and by its regular riiyme. Lastly, (iregory, in his hymns, not unfrcquently borrows from Ambrose, and this is also notably the case in the Veiti Creator. Not to speak of several imitations, lines 15 and 16 are taken word for word from a hymn of Ambrose, the Veni Redemptor Gentium (q. v.).
The historical position of Veni Creator in regard to the great doctrine of the procession of the Holy Ghost
VENI, REDEMPTOR GENTIUM V45 VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS
may in some measure account both for the place which it occupied in the services of the Cliurch and for the extravagant language in which median'al writers refer to it. Anciently it was sung not only at Wliitsuntide, but. as still in the Roman Catholic Church, on the most solemn occasions — at the election of a pope and of bish- ops, at tlie coronation of kings, at synods, and at the elevation and translation of the relics of saints. Its " more than ordinary worth and dignity" have been rec- ognised by the Church of England, " when, dismissing every other hymn, she has yet retained this in the offices for the ordaining of priests and the consecrating of bishops." It is certainly one of the most magniticent compositions, mingling prayer with praise — grand, fuU- chorded, rich in tone and melody, and at the same time soft, sweet, and touching. In a singular manner it unites the doctrinal with the practical — the full-rounded state- ment of scriptural truth with conscious need and joyous assurance.