Tom led me to the Lord when I was 10. This was his favourite hymn. I sang a few lines tonite but couldn't remember the remainder. Thank you for sharing them. More precious than my early memories is the Lord who has dearly loved me.

I was singing this the other day and couldn't remember all the verses, don't know why it just came to mind!

This hymn popped into my head today quite randomly.... way back from my childhood.

Jacky, I know we are far away, but if it makes you feel any better, we just sang this song in church recently. In fact it is quite popular here. I would imagine there are others besides the Mormons who have it in their hymnals still too! It is one of my all time favorites, a classic! Glad there is another person out there who loves it!

Also, thank you everyone else for the Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander stories! Loved that!

I love this Easter hymn, would sing it at school and church but not any more. A shame when hymns become unpopular.

I wanted to share this story of how Mrs. Alexander wrote another hymn because it shows the relationship between her and her husband:

Sometime after her marriage to the Reverend Alexander, Cecil sat in their home writing when her husband returned. He joked with her after greeting her, "Well, what is the effort of this day, my dear?" She told him that she had written a poem on his sermon subject for last Sunday, the Burial of Moses. "Honestly, dear" he joked, "I did not think you were listening." She handed him the poem. He read it and said, "My dear, this is the noblest piece of poetry you have ever written." It was indeed. "The Burial of Moses" is one of the finest poems in the English language.

"Next Sunday is St. Andrew's Sunday. I wonder if you could write a poem based on the call of Andrew before you heard the sermon?" It was a large order, but all who have sung, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult" know how well she fulfilled that order or request. - "Hymn Stories" by Wilbur Konkel

Steve has the same book I have--The One Year Book of Hymns. After reading about this hymn, I looked it up on the Internet, so I could find the tune and sing it. Thanks to Hymnal.net, I can sing these old, traditional tunes that so few Christians are able to appreciate these days, because many churches now sing mostly "praise songs."

From her childhood, Cecil Frances Alexander wrote poetry, and as an adult she wrote primarily for children. She felt that the truths of Christianity could best be taught through hymns, so she tackled major doctrines with simple words. One project was a series of hymns based on the Apostles' Creed. She wrote "All Things Bright and Beautiful" to teach about God the Father as "Maker of heaven and earth." She wrote this hymn to teach about Jesus as He "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried."

Along with her husband, Reverend William Alexander, Cecil cared for the poor families in their parish in Ireland. "From one poor home to another she went," her husband wrote. "Christ was ever with her, and in her, and all felt her influence." She reportedly wrote this song while sitting at a child's sickbed. - Great Songs of Faith by Brown and Norton

The original chorus says:

Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved,

And we must love Him too,

And trust in His redeeming blood,

And try His works to do.