Great Hymns of the Faith

I grew up on the great hymns of our faith which are now becoming more and more a thing of the past. I love the newer praise choruses as well, however, the hymns are beautiful because they are very rich in doctrine. Presently I am using an inspiring hymn book in my quiet times. The book is pictured above with the title. It is a beautiful book with rough edges on the pages to give an antiquated appearance. For every hymn there is a story of its origin beside it. It is awesome to learn the stories behind the hymns I have been singing my whole life. In fact, I was hearing the hymns in the womb before I was born. I am thankful that these beautiful expressions of praise to God have been such a rich part of my upbringing.
Even though my kids are growing up in different times I am still trying to connect them to the hymns as well. Today I read about the very old hymn Fairest Lord Jesus. What peaked my interest about it is that it was written by Roman Catholic Jesuits in Germany. It originally appeared in 1677 in a hymnbook titled Munster Gesangbuch. Anything about Germany peaks my interest after living there for a short while back in '07.

I like stanza Two:

Fair are the meadows; Fairer still the woodlands, Robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer; Jesus is purer, Who makes the woeful heart to sing.