These believers called themselves “the Brotherhood” because they were like a big family. They loved God, and they sang all the time. They sang so much that they became known as “the singing Brethren.”

Their leader, John Hus, had been put in prison and cruelly held down with heavy chains. He sang hymns in his prison cell. He was a POW who was told he would be killed. But he just kept singing. He even sang out loud when wicked people tied his feet to a log and set the wood on fire. As the flames encircled his feet, John Hus was calm. The last sound his friends heard from him was his voice singing a hymn. Then they watched as all two hundred of his Christian books were thrown into the fire with him.

With John Hus dead and all of his books burned, his enemies thought they had stopped the message of Jesus from being spread. But the good news didn’t stop because John Hus was dead. “The singing Brethren” had taught their children hymns. Truthful words and beautiful tunes from the hymns gave strength to the followers of Christ, young and old.

Music for "Fairest Lord Jesus" Download a larger copy (pdf) Read the lyrics Hymns for a Kid's Heart, Volume Two

Meeting in secret places whenever they could, the people sang together and reminded each other to keep their faith in God strong. If ever they were sad or alone, they knew what to do. They sang hymns like “Fairest Lord Jesus.”

Fearing that their hiding place would be found, fathers and mothers moved out of the dangerous cities to remote villages. They sang as they walked to their new towns, where they became farmers or weavers or cobblers. As they worked, they sang the sweet hymns and told Bible stories to their children. The children memorized the stories and the hymns. This is how the good news of the Christianfaith was passed on and on for generations. Over two hundred and fifty years passed, and children were still singing the cherished hymns.

After many generations, a visitor came to a meeting in one of the German villages. He heard some children singing “Fairest Lord Jesus.” Thinking that it was one of the most beautiful hymns he had ever heard, the man asked the children to sing it again. Quickly, he wrote down the words and memorized the tune. The gentle hymn traveled with the man back to his home, and he showed it to someone who immediately printed it in a songbook. In no time, the song was on the lips of children all over the world. No one ever really knew who wrote it. But that didn’t seem to matter.

What matters is that, in the midst of dark times, someone long ago sang “Fairest Lord Jesus” in secret to their children. And they sang it in secret to their children. And their children kept singing it until the day finally came when it did not have to be sung in secret anymore. Someday you may be able to sing this beautiful hymn to your children. When you do, remember to tell them about the children who sang it in secret many centuries ago.

—Bobbie Wolgemuth

Adapted from Focus on the Family’s new book Hymns for a Kid's Heart, Volume Two by Joni Eareckson Tada and Bobbie Wolgemuth, copyright 2004. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois.

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