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Fairest Lord Jesus,
Lord of all creation,

Jesus, of God and man the son;
You will I cherish, You will I honour,
You are my soul’s delight and crown.

Fair are the rivers, meadows and forests
clothed in the fresh
green robes of Spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
He makes the saddest heart to sing.

Fair is the sunrise;
starlight and moonlight
spreading their glory across the sky;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines clearer
than all the heavenly host on high.

All fairest beauty,
heavenly and earthly,
Jesus, my Lord, in You I see;
none can be nearer, fairer, or dearer
than You, my Saviour, are to me.

This hymn has a very mysterious history. It is not known who wrote
it, except the last verse. Joseph Seiss translated it into English,
and added the last verse in 1873. But it is not known exactly when
it was written - the date range is quite wide, and individual
researchers have determined on dates extending from 1640 to
1670.

However, what is known is that it was written in Munster,
Westphalia, (now part of Germany), and possibly by Jesuits.
Another interesting touch to its history is that different hymn books
have slightly different wording - presumably the choice of the
editors. The words above are from Mission Praise number 823.

It’s an appropriate and lovely hymn for the start of Spring!

Graham Neads

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