Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk Faith of Our Fathers 
Faith of Our Fathers
 Faith of our fathers! living still In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword; O how our hearts beat high with joy Whene'er we hear that glorious word! Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death. 
[The original first verse was as follows: 
Faith of our fathers, Mary's prayers Shall win our country back to Thee; And through the truth that comes from God, England shall then indeed be free.]
 Faith of our fathers! we will strive To win all nations unto thee; And through the truth that comes from God Mankind shall then be truly free. Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death.
 Faith of our fathers! we will love Both friend and foe in all our strife; And preach three, too, as love knows how By kindly words and virtuous life Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to thee till death. 
[In Ireland the third verse was changed: Faith of Our Fathers, Mary's prayers Will keep our country true to thee. And through the truth that comnes from God Ireland shall then indeed be free."] 
[There's one more verse in the hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the 
U.S. (1940): Our fathers, chained in prisons dark, Were still in heart and conscience free: And truly blest would be our fate, If we, like them, should die for thee.]
 The 1920 St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book renders it, "How sweet woul d be 
 their children's fate, If they, like them, could die for thee!" Yuck. The Episcopalian version also says, "Faith of our fathers, faith and prayer sha ll win all nations unto thee." I learned the "Mary's prayers" verse in Catholic school many years ago, but I've avoided it because I thought it was divisive. Interestingly, that verse isn't i n the 1920 Catholic hymnal. Modern Roman Catholic hymnals say "faith and prayer." [JO]
 Here in Canada, the first verse is the same as the original poster, John from B risbane. Apparently the original was written by Frederick W. Faber in 1849 so that origi nal posting maybe the correct original. However the other verses were modified in 1981 to b 
e: [GS]
 2 Faith of our mothers, daring faith, Your work for Christ is love revealed, Spreading God's word from pole to pole, Making love known and freedom real, Faith of our mothers, holy faith We will be true to you till death.
 3 Faith of our sisters, brothers too Who still must bear oppression's might, Raising on high in prison's dark The cross of Christ still burning bright: Faith for today, o living faith, We will be true to thee till death. 
Here are the soul stirring lyrics as I knew them (thanks to Maureen O'Toole from Highton in Geelong). I've notated the two part harmony tune plus LH piano in 4/4. The 3/4 
is linked above.
 O FAITH of our fathers, living still In spite of dungeons, fire, and sword: Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy Whene'er we hear that glorious word! O Faith of our fathers! Holy Faith! We will be true to thee till death.
 Our fathers, chained in prisons dark, Were still in heart and conscience free: How sweet would be their children's fate, If they, like them, could die tor thee! 0 Faith of our fathers! Holy Faith! We will be true to thee till death. 
 0 Faith of our fathers, we will love
 Both friend and foe in all our strife,
 And preach thee too, as love knows how,
 By kindly words and virtuous life:
 0 Faith of our fathers! Holy Faith!
 We will be true to thee till death. 
From: McGrath of Harlow As far as I can tell the US hymnals seem to contain the 3/4 tune written by Henr i Hemy. The
 range includes an 1878 Methodist Hymnal, a 1934 Tabernacle Hymns to the modern Methodist
 hymnal and others in between. Of course my collection of hymnals is not necessa rily an all
 denominational sample. If all the hymn sites have the 3/4 version that I know, what is the 4/4
 version like? [RR]
 Well, I found the song in some 20 hymnals, including 3 Catholic hymnals (one fr om the 1950's
 didn't have it). All of the hymnals had the song in 3/4 time, and not one had t he line I learned
 about Mary's prayers winning the country back I did find a recording of Frank P atterson singing the "U.S. Version" (3/4 time) and what I suppose is the "regula r" version (4/4 time) - they're on a 2-CD set of Irish Catholic anthems, appropr iately titled Faith of Our Fathers. [JO] 
JiB, RiB, JO apr00