One of our favorite hymns, “Fairest Lord Jesus”, has continuously been referred to as the “Crusaders’ Hymn”. The myth is that the German crusaders sang this hymn as they marched to the Holy Lands, but it is best to do some fact checking. The Crusades took place from 1096 to 1291. This hymn was not written until 1650. It had nothing to do with the crusades.
The confusion was caused by famous composer Franz Liszt, who used this melody for an oratorio movement called “Crusaders’ March”. Even that historical correction about the “Crusaders’ Hymn” is fascinating, but the real history of the birth of this hymn is even more intriguing.
In 1620, there was a brutal anti-reformation purge in Bohemia. All Christians were driven out of that country into Silesia (now Poland), where they became desperate refugees. They were living in dreadful circumstances, struggling for food and shelter, much as refugees today throughout the world. But their solid Christian faith led them to write the words of “Fairest Lord Jesus”, which they sang daily for inspiration.
How we still have this hymn today is an unbelievable miracle. This powerful hymn, “Fairest Lord Jesus”, somehow disappeared for more than a century. More than one hundred years later, a single copy was found at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, the church where Johann Sebastian Bach was later to be choir director and organist. Whoever found this hymn sensed the beauty and the deep passion embodied within these words. St. Thomas Church loved it, and soon began using it in their own services, the only way we have this cherished hymn today. It eventually got translated into English and somehow found its way to America.
As you sing this hymn, in spite of the joyful feeling of most of the words, remember those early believers who were desperate refugees, but who still managed the faith and courage to create this inspirational hymn. That explains the final words of verse 2, “Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, who makes the woeful heart to sing.”
Never sing this hymn with nonchalance, but with passion, and think of refugees.
Image Creator: Andrey Popov; Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto