Dear angel ever at my side, How loving must thou be

Dear angel ever at my side, How loving must thou be

Author: Frederick William Faber
Published in 55 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Dear Angel, ever at my side,
How loving Thou must be
To leave Thy home in heav’n to guide
A little child like me!
Thy beautiful and shining face
I see not, tho’ so near;
The sweetness of Thy soft, low voice
Too deaf am I to hear.

Refrain:
Close by my side, close by my side,
Dear Angel, walk today;
Close by Thy side, close by Thy side I’d follow all the way.

2 I cannot feel Thee touch my hand
With pressure light and mild,
To cheek me as my mother doth
Her little wayward child;
But I can feel Thee in my tho’ts
Striving with sin for me,
And when my heart loves God I know
The sweetness comes from Thee. [Refrain]

3 And when beside my couch I kneel!
At morn and night for prayer,
There’s something speaks within my heart
And tells me Thou art there.
Yes, when I pray Thou prayest too,
Thy prayer is all for me;
But when I sleep Thou sleepest not,
But watchest lovingly [Refrain]

Source: Songs of Summerland #217

Author: Frederick William 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 >

Text Information

First Line: Dear angel ever at my side, How loving must thou be
Author: Frederick William Faber
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

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)

=====================

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)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 55 of 55)

A Hymnal and Vesperal for the Seasons and Principal Festivals of the Ecclesiastical Year #d12

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A Treasury of Catholic Song #183

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American Catholic Hymnal #169

Cantate Omnes ... with Supplement #d28

Cantica Sacra #d12

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Catholic Church Hymnal with Music #153a

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Catholic Church Hymnal with Music #153b

Catholic School Chimes Part I #d8

Children's Hymn Book and Sodality Manual #d18

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English and Latin Hymns, or Harmonies to Part I of the Roman Hymnal #107

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English and Latin Hymns, or Harmonies to Part I of the Roman Hymnal #108

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Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church #532

Hymns of the Ages #d20

Hymns used by the Pupils of the Sisters of Notre Dame #d38

Jubilee Hymns for Church and School #d3

Jubilee Hymns. Book II #d5

Jubilee Hymns. Parish worship ed. #d17

Jubilee Hymns. Parish worship ed. with supplement #ad17

Laudate Hymnal and Choir Book #d16

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Laudis Corona #210

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Lyra Catholica #429

Manual of Hymns for Congregational Singing, Prayers and Pious Practices #d21

Manual of Select Catholic Hymns and Devotions for the Use of Schools, Colleges, Academies and Congregations. Rev. #d18

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Peters' Sodality Hymn Book #121

Popular Hymns for Youth #d26

Rohr's Collection of Favorite Catholic Melodies for Church, School, Home ... #d15

Rohr's Favorite Catholic Melodies #d15

Roman Hymnal, Complete edition #d33

School Recreations #d29

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Songs of Summerland #217

St. Basil 's Hymn Book. 31st ed. #d22

St. Basil's Hymn Book #d29

St. Basil's Hymnal ... 10th ed. #d39

St. Basil's Hymnal. 3rd ed. #d29

St. Basil's Hymnal. Rev. ed. #d29

St. Francis Hymnal and Choir Manual #d72

St. Joseph's Hymnal. 5th ed. #d21

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Sunday School Hymn Book #79

The Ave Maria Hymnal. 2nd rev. ed. #d35

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The Catholic Hymn Book #195

The Catholic Youth's Hymn Book by the Christian Brothers. Rev. #d37

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The Catholic Youth's Hymn Book #111

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The De La Salle Hymnal #111

The Garland of Praise #d31

The Garland of Praise. 2nd ed. #ad31

The Hymn Book of the New Sunday School Companion #d11

The Little Catholic Hymn Book #d10

The New Saint Basil Hymnal #d36

The Ordinary of the Mass and a Complete Manual of Hymns for Parochial Schools #d72

The Parochial Hymnal, a Select Collection #d21

The Pius X Hymnal #d29

The Pius X Hymnal for Unison, Two Equal, or Four Mixed Voices. Rev. ed. #d19

The St. Cecilia Hymnal. 4th ed. #d24

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The St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book. Singers' ed., Melody ed. #112

Young People's Catholic Hymn Book #d16

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