Dear Angel! ever at my side. F. W. Faber. [The Guardian Angel.] Appeared in his Jesus and Mary, &c, 1849, and his Hymns, 1862, in 13 stanzas of 4 lines. It is in use in an abbreviated form in various Roman Catholic hymnals for Schools and Missions. In some collections stanzas i.-vi., somewhat altered, and with the addition of a doxology, are given as: "Dear Jesus, ever at Thy side." It is in the Plymouth Collection, 1855, and other American hymnbooks, in addition to the New Congregational Hymn Book, 1859, and other English hymnals. In the Methodist S. Scholars' Hymn Book, 1870, the opening line is "Bless’d Jesus, ever at my side;" whilst in one or two collections it is again changed to “Dear Saviour, ever at my side." This last is almost confined to America. The object of these changes is to adapt a Roman Catholic hymn for Protestant use by substituting our Blessed Lord for "the Guardian Angel.”
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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Dear Angel! ever at my side , p. 283, ii. This is in Faber's St. Wilfrid's Hymns, 1849, p. 25, and entitled, "To my Guardian Angel. For the School Children."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
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 >
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