The aim of this book is to serve as a companion to the Mennonite Hymnary. It seeks to explain, as far as possible, the origin of the words and music of every hymn in the Hymnary.

The great lyrics of the church, contributed by every age since the days of the apostles, are a precious heritage, and a source of inspiration and power. This work is intended to foster an understanding of and love for our hymns, new and old, and to stimulate the time-honored and blessed practice of congregational singing in the church today.

The Handbook may be found useful as an aid (1) in the private study of hymns or their use in family devotions; (2) in selecting suitable hymns for the many and varied services of public worship; (3) in preparing special music services or hymn sings where such occasions are planned to improve the singing in the church; (4) for study groups in hymnology in churches and schools. The historical development of hymnology may be followed in the brief “Introduction to Our Hymns and Tunes.”

The author has endeavored to make the work as comprehensive as possible without overburdening the reader with too many details. Many hymns have interesting stories connected with their origin and use while others, equally valuable, were just written, without drama or incident, the poet scarcely knowing how or why, except that the Inner Voice spoke. The apocryphal tales which have been circulated concerning some hymns have been studiously avoided. The aim has been to include only such material as seems to bear genuine marks of authenticity. The bibliography of “Principal Works Consulted,” found elsewhere in the book, indicates the main sources.

The original versions of translated hymns are not always readily available and for that reason they are reproduced in the Handbook. Translated hymns are usually selections from a much larger number of stanzas and it is often instructive to be able to study the whole structure of the original work.

Acknowledgements. I wish to acknowledge valuable help received from the following and to express hereby my gratitude to them: to Dr. Robert McCutchan, author of Our Hymnody, who generously responded to my request for information on a dozen or more hymns on which I had no data; to Dr. Henry Wilder Foote, of Harvard University, author of Three Centuries of American Hymnody, for biographical material on several hymn writers, and the use of books from his private library; to Dr. Reginald McAll, Executive Secretary of the Hymn Society of America for helpful material; to Dr. Ruth Messenger, Archivist for the Hymn Society of America, who furnished nearly all the Latin originals, and the Italian original of Savonarola’s hymn, and information concerning these hymns; to Dr. Armin Heussler, author of a forth-coming handbook to the Evangelical hymnal, for material on several of the chorales; to Wm. Runyan of the Hope Publishing Company, and to Dr. John Trowbridge of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, for information concerning several of the gospel songs; to Dr. Cornelius Krahn who made the rich hymnic treasures of the Mennonite Historical Library at Bethel College available to me; to the late Rev. C. E. Krehbiel who loaned me material from his private library for this work but did not live to see its completion; to B. Bargen for help in preparing the manuscript for publication; to Mrs. Beatrice Buller for reading the manuscripts and proofs of the German chorales; to my wife, Charity Steiner Hostetler, who read all the manuscripts and proofs and whose constant interest and assistance were indispensable; and to others, too numerous to mention, who in any way facilitated the completion of the work.

The book, written during spare moments of a busy pastorate, is sent forth with the prayer that, in spite of errors and imperfections, it may inspire all who use it to sing with greater devotion the praises of Him who loved us and redeemed us.

Lester Hostetler