Pilgrim Song

Author: Frederick W. Faber

Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >

Blest is the faith, divine and strong. F. W. Faber. [The Christian Life.] Appeared in his Oratory Hymns, 1854, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and the chorus, "O Sion's songs are sweet to sing." In the 1855 edition of the Cooke & Denton Hymnal, it was given with alterations to adapt it for use in the Church of England. In this form it is in a limited number of collections, the original being retained in the Roman Catholic hymnals.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)