The Lutheran Hymnwriters Printable Guide

History

The hymns of the great Lutheran Hymnwriters, Ss. Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, and Paul Gerhardt, are special cultural relics within our faith tradition and history. Known for making complex doctrine personal and memorable, many of their pieces have been treasured throughout the ages and kept close to the hearts of the millions of Lutherans who have gone before us. These men have played their part in ensuring that Lutheranism has been known since its existence as a “singing faith,” using music to communicate the Gospel and Reformation message.

It is for this reason that we have mentioned using music within celebrations many times here on All the Household. Our tradition post for St. Johann Walter, another Lutheran musician, even provides you with some information about how to perform a hymn study of his hymns. Additionally, music is featured in our suggested ways to commemorate St. Martin, St. Cecilia, and St. Paul and is mentioned as a tool to use within the other customs of liturgical living such as celebrating namedays.

The Hymns of Nicolai, Heerman, and Gerhardt

In this spirit, singing one (or more!) of Nicolai, Heermann, or Gerhardt’s 25 hymns featured in the Lutheran Service Book is a great way to commemorate their day on October 26th. However, we encourage you to go one step further in your use of their beautiful musical pieces within your household. Instead of just blindly picking one of their pieces within the hymnal to add to your daily devotions for that day, etc., try filling out the information on the printable guide below to learn more about these compositions and their theological connections.

We have included a few categories of information for you to look up in your hymnal as part of your engagement with the printable guide. You can use the details found in the small script below the hymn’s stanzas to find out what scriptural references it incorporates and when it was written and look above the hymnal’s title to see the section of the book in which it’s located.

Hopefully this will help you get a better idea for the hymn’s context and liturgical use and make you more familiar with at least one of these saints’ many hymns featured in the Lutheran Service Book. Although there is an overwhelming amount of options with Nicolai’s LSB 516 and 395; Heerman’s LSB 421, 439, 568, 696, 774, and 839; and Gerhardt’s LSB 334, 360, 372, 375, 438, 450, 453, 467, 596, 683, 724, 726, 737, 754, 756, 880, discovering just one more hymn that you don’t as easily recognize but that still resonates with you can help edify and strengthen you and those in your household in the faith and bolster your use of hymns throughout your celebration of the liturgical year!