5 sacred songs to sing during Lent

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, February 25, 2024

'What Wondrous Love is This?'

A popular American folk hymn from the 19th century with an unknown author, “What Wondrous Love is This?” is often sung in church services during Lent and on Good Friday.

“’What Wondrous Love Is This’ captures our attention right from the beginning with its simplicity and persistence — ‘What wondrous love is this’ sung three times,” wrote C. Michael Hawn of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

“It is the kind of repetition that sounds trite when spoken, yet gains strength and power through singing. These are not the carefully crafted words of a theologian, but utterances directly from the heart or, even more profoundly, from the soul.”

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this

that caused the Lord of bliss

to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.