O Jesus, God and man, For love of children once a child

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 >

O Jesus! God and man. F. W. Faber. [Children's Hymn.] This popular children's hymn was given in his Jesus and Mary, &c, 1849, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Ragged School Hymn." In common use it is found in two forms, first, the original, in Roman Catholic hymnbooks for missions and schools, in which stanzas iii., iv., both of which are addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary are retained; and second, in other hymnbooks, where they are omitted. Original text in Faber's Hymns, 1862.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)