Lyrics
Faith of our fathers, living still
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword,
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear that glorious word.
Faith of our fathers, holy faith,
We will be true to thee till death.
Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
How sweet would be their children’s fate,
If they, like them, could die for thee!
Faith of our fathers! we will strive
To win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
Mankind shall then be truly free.
Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life.
Public domain hymn text (1849). Words by Frederick W. Faber.
The Story Behind the Hymn
Frederick W. Faber is already discussed elsewhere in this collection as author of ‘There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy’. He wrote this hymn’s text in 1849, several years after his own well-documented conversion from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism in 1845.
That conversion had cost him his previous position and standing within the established English church.
Faber’s original text specifically commemorated English Catholics who had suffered persecution, imprisonment, and sometimes execution for maintaining their Catholic faith. That was during the period following the English Reformation, when Catholicism was officially suppressed and practicing Catholics faced serious legal and sometimes physical danger under a series of English monarchs.
The hymn’s reference to ‘dungeon, fire, and sword’ describes specific, real historical persecution, rather than functioning only as generalized poetic language.
Given that specifically Catholic historical context, the hymn was originally written for use within Faber’s own adopted Catholic tradition. Yet it has since been widely adapted and adopted across a considerably broader range of Christian denominations.
Many Protestant hymnals modify or omit Faber’s more explicitly Catholic-specific verses, including verses referencing Mary and the Catholic clergy, while retaining the hymn’s general theme of faithfulness maintained despite historical persecution. That allows it to function as a more broadly applicable hymn of religious steadfastness, regardless of denomination.
Henri F. Hemy, an English Catholic composer and choir director, composed the tune most commonly associated with the hymn.
The completed work remains one of the most widely recognized hymns specifically celebrating inherited religious tradition, and the willingness to remain faithful to one’s convictions even under conditions of genuine danger and persecution — a theme drawn directly from Faber’s own considerable knowledge of English Catholic history following the Reformation.
