Lent hymns: songs of repentance and the cross

Lent is the forty days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, not counting Sundays — a season of repentance, prayer and walking with Jesus toward the cross. Its hymns are quieter than those of Christmas or Easter. They remember Christ's forty days in the wilderness, confess sin honestly, and draw close to the cross where grace was won.

The first group follows Jesus into the wilderness and along the road to Jerusalem. The second gathers the gospel hymns of the cross that many congregations know by heart — “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood” — and the third is for confession and coming home: “Just As I Am,” “Rock of Ages,” “Amazing Grace.” For Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, see the Holy Week hymns page.

Every text is in the public domain in the United States, taken from a hymnal printed before 1931, so the words can be printed in a bulletin, projected or recorded freely. Hymns marked “♪ Chords” have a chart you can transpose; those marked “▶ Play along” have a free accompaniment.

Midweek Lenten services often sing one hymn of the cross slowly, a verse at a time between the readings — the order of service builder makes it easy to set out a service that way.