The best-known traditional Lent hymns include Forty Days and Forty Nights, Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, Ah, Holy Jesus, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, There Is a Green Hill Far Away, What Wondrous Love Is This, Were You There and Rock of Ages. They follow Jesus from His forty days of fasting in the wilderness to the cross. Lent 2027 begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and runs to Easter on March 28. Its pattern is Matthew 4:2: "when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."
Lent is the season of about six weeks before Easter when many Christians focus on repentance, prayer, fasting and preparation to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. Its forty days, not counting Sundays, mirror the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness before beginning His public ministry. The music of Lent is quieter than the music of Christmas or Easter. Many churches stop singing Alleluia until Easter morning, and the hymns turn toward the wilderness, the garden of Gethsemane and the cross. The twelve hymns below are traditional favorites from Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Reformed hymnals, and all of them are old enough to be in the public domain in the United States, so churches and families can print and sing them freely. After the list you will find 12 KJV passages that stand behind these hymns, arranged to follow the season from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week. For daily readings, see the free Lent Bible reading plan and our Bible verses about Lent.
12 traditional hymns for Lent and Holy Week
All of these hymns are in the public domain in the US. Dates are for the English words.
- Forty Days and Forty Nights, George Hunt Smyttan (1856), altered by Francis Pott (1861). First line: Forty days and forty nights thou wast fasting in the wild. The classic hymn for the first Sunday in Lent.
- Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days, Claudia Frances Hernaman (1873). A gentle prayer to share Christ's fast and His victory.
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts (1707). Often called the greatest hymn in English.
- O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, Paul Gerhardt (1656), from a medieval Latin poem; English by James W. Alexander (1830). Sung to Hassler's tune as harmonized by J. S. Bach.
- Ah, Holy Jesus, Johann Heermann (1630); English by Robert Bridges (1899). Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
- Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed, Isaac Watts (1707). The hymn that Fanny Crosby said led to her conversion.
- Beneath the Cross of Jesus, Elizabeth C. Clephane (written 1868, printed 1872).
- There Is a Green Hill Far Away, Cecil Frances Alexander (1848), from the same children's book as Once in Royal David's City.
- What Wondrous Love Is This, American folk hymn (printed by 1811; in The Southern Harmony, 1835).
- Were You There, African American spiritual (first printed 1899).
- Rock of Ages, Augustus Toplady (1776). A Lenten prayer of repentance and trust.
- The Old Rugged Cross, George Bennard (1913). Public domain in the US because it was published before 1929.
Catholic parishes also sing the medieval Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping, in Edward Caswall's 1849 English) and Attende Domine (Hear Us, Almighty Lord). For Palm Sunday, add All Glory, Laud and Honour (Theodulph of Orleans, about 820; English by John Mason Neale, 1851). For Easter morning, see Christ the Lord Is Risen Today and Up from the Grave He Arose.
Lent 2027 dates: Ash Wednesday is February 10, Palm Sunday March 21, Good Friday March 26 and Easter Sunday March 28. See What is Ash Wednesday and the Holy Week timeline.
Forty days and forty nights: Jesus in the wilderness
1. Matthew 4:1
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."
Forty Days and Forty Nights opens Lent in many churches because it starts where Jesus' own preparation started: Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Notice who led Him there. The Spirit did not lead Jesus away from hardship but into it. Smyttan's hymn invites us to go with Him, to learn from His fasting and His victory over temptation. Lent is not a time to prove how strong we are. It is a time to follow Jesus into the places where our weakness is exposed, and to find Him faithful there.
2. Matthew 4:2
"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."
The number forty runs through the Bible: forty days of rain in Noah's flood, Moses' forty days on the mountain, Israel's forty years in the wilderness, Elijah's forty days' journey to Horeb. Matthew tells us that Jesus, when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. Where Israel failed in the wilderness, Jesus succeeded. Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days asks Him to teach us to fast with Him and to share His strength. The forty days of Lent are modeled on these forty days of His.
3. Matthew 4:10
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Jesus answered every temptation with Scripture, quoting Deuteronomy each time. The last answer is the sharpest: Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Many Lent hymns are, at heart, about this single choice: whom will we worship? Giving something up for Lent is a small way of saying that our appetites do not rule us. The aim is not the giving up itself but making more room in our lives to worship and serve God alone.
4. Joel 2:12
"Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:"
Ash Wednesday services often read from Joel 2, where God calls His people back: turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. The next verse adds: rend your heart, and not your garments. God is not interested in outward shows of sorrow. He wants hearts that turn to Him. That is the spirit of the quieter hymns of Lent, such as Ah, Holy Jesus, which confesses that our own sin brought Christ to the cross. Repentance is not despair; Joel says God is gracious and merciful.
O Sacred Head, now wounded: the hymns of the Passion
5. Isaiah 53:3
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Many Passion hymns draw on Isaiah's picture of the suffering servant: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. O Sacred Head, Now Wounded meditates on the face of Christ crowned with thorns, a face once full of glory and now covered with shame. The hymn's English translator, James W. Alexander, was a Princeton professor, but his translation is anything but academic. It ends with a prayer that we would never outlive our love for Jesus. For a deeper look at this chapter, see our page on Isaiah 53.
6. Matthew 26:39
"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before He died, Jesus fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Several Lent hymns linger in the garden, and it is one of the most human moments in the Gospels. Jesus did not want to suffer, and He said so. Yet He chose the Father's will. Lent invites us to pray the same prayer about our own plans: not as I will, but as You will.
7. John 19:25
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene."
The medieval hymn Stabat Mater, sung in many Catholic parishes through Lent and at the Stations of the Cross, takes its picture from John's Gospel: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother. Most of the disciples had fled, but Mary, a few other women and John stayed. Beneath the Cross of Jesus expresses the same desire to stand near the cross and not run away. Lent is a season of standing there, looking honestly at what our salvation cost, the way Mary did when the sword pierced her own soul (Luke 2:35).
8. John 19:30
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
The last words of Jesus in John's Gospel are three words in English and one in Greek: It is finished. The Greek word, tetelestai, was written on receipts to mean paid in full. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and Rock of Ages both rest on this finished work. Nothing remains for us to add. Lent is not a season of trying to pay for our sins with self-denial. It is a season of remembering that they have already been paid for, and of letting that truth reshape how we live.
What wondrous love is this: taking up the cross toward Easter
9. 1 John 3:16
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
What Wondrous Love Is This, the haunting American folk hymn, asks the question John answers: Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. The hymn's mournful tune, from The Southern Harmony of 1835, makes the question feel personal: what wondrous love, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul. John goes on: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Lent's practices of giving and serving others flow from Christ's love for us.
10. Matthew 16:24
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
Jesus said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Lent hymns are not only about watching the cross from a distance; they call us to carry our own. Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross and Beneath the Cross of Jesus both express a longing to stay close to the place where self is denied. In Jesus' day, a man carrying his cross was walking to his death. Following Jesus means letting the old self die so that a new life can begin.
11. Psalms 139:23
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:"
Lent is a traditional time for self-examination, and David gives us the prayer for it: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. The next verse asks God to see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ah, Holy Jesus asks, Who was the guilty? and answers, I crucified thee. That is the honesty Lent invites. It is safe to let God search us, because the One who searches us is the same One who died for us.
12. John 11:25
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"
Lent always ends at an empty tomb. Before He raised Lazarus, Jesus said: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Even the most sorrowful Lent hymns look forward to Easter. O Sacred Head ends with hope of seeing Christ's face in glory. The silence of Lent makes the first Alleluia of Easter morning ring out all the louder. On March 28, 2027, churches will sing Jesus Christ Is Risen Today again.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, You were led into the wilderness and fasted forty days and forty nights, and You overcame every temptation by the word of God. As I walk through this Lent, turn my heart to You with all my heart. Search me and know me, and show me what I need to lay down. Thank You for bearing my sorrows, for praying not as I will but as You will, and for finishing the work of my salvation on the cross. Help me to take up my cross and follow You, all the way to the empty tomb. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Read through Lent with the free Lent Bible reading plan · Print the free Christian Easter coloring pages · Pray through Lent with the 30-day prayer journal
Frequently asked questions
What are traditional Lent hymns?
Traditional Lent hymns include Forty Days and Forty Nights, Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, Ah, Holy Jesus, Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed, Beneath the Cross of Jesus, There Is a Green Hill Far Away, What Wondrous Love Is This, Were You There, Rock of Ages and The Old Rugged Cross. Catholic parishes often add Stabat Mater and Attende Domine. All of these are in the public domain in the United States.
Why do churches not sing Alleluia during Lent?
Many Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches stop singing or saying Alleluia from Ash Wednesday until Easter, a custom known since the early Middle Ages. Alleluia means praise the LORD and is the great word of Easter joy, so setting it aside makes Lent a season of quieter, more reflective worship. Some churches even bury a banner reading Alleluia and bring it out again on Easter morning.
When is Lent in 2027?
In 2027 Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and lasts until Holy Saturday, March 27. Palm Sunday is March 21, Maundy Thursday March 25, Good Friday March 26 and Easter Sunday March 28. The forty days of Lent do not count the six Sundays, which are always celebrated as little Easters. Orthodox Easter in 2027 falls on May 2.
What is the most famous Lent hymn?
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts (1707) is often called the greatest hymn in the English language and is sung in almost every tradition during Lent and Holy Week. Forty Days and Forty Nights is the hymn most closely tied to Lent itself, because it describes Jesus' fasting in the wilderness, which the forty days of Lent are modeled on. For Catholics, Stabat Mater is one of the oldest and best-known Lenten hymns.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Lent · What Is Ash Wednesday · When I Survey the Wondrous Cross · Were You There · Holy Week Timeline · Fasting · The Seven Last Words of Jesus · Good Friday
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