THE BLIND WOMAN WHO HELPED THE WORLD SEE

Born Frances Jane Crosby in New York in 1820, Fanny lost her sight when she was just six weeks old. Whether caused by illness or a medical mistake, her blindness was permanent. Her father died before she was a year old, leaving her mother and grandmother to raise her. Rather than allowing bitterness to take root, they nurtured in her a deep Christian faith that would shape the rest of her remarkable life.

As a child, Fanny developed an extraordinary memory. Encouraged by her grandmother, she memorised large portions of the Bible, eventually committing the four Gospels, the first five books of the Old Testament, many Psalms, Proverbs and other passages to memory. She later reflected that she never wished she could see, believing that God had a purpose even in her blindness. She once famously said that the first face she would ever see would be that of her Saviour.

At fifteen, Fanny entered the New York Institution for the Blind, where she studied music and learned to play several instruments. She also discovered her gift for poetry and songwriting. Over the course of her lifetime she wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with over 100 million copies printed. So many of her hymns appeared in hymnbooks that publishers sometimes asked her to write under one of nearly 200 pen names so it would not seem that one person had written so much.

Her hymns have comforted and inspired millions around the world. Classics such as Blessed Assurance, To God Be the Glory, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour, Praise Him, Praise Him and Rescue the Perishing continue to be sung in churches more than a century after they were written.

Yet Fanny's greatest contribution was not simply her music. She devoted much of her life to serving the poor through rescue missions, teaching, and public speaking. She believed that the Christian faith was meant to be lived out in compassion and practical service to others.

Fanny Crosby died in 1915 at the age of ninety-four, leaving behind a legacy that few songwriters have ever matched. Her life is a powerful reminder that our greatest limitations need not become our greatest obstacles. Instead, when placed in God's hands, they can become the very means through which we bless countless others. Blind from infancy, Fanny Crosby helped generations of people see more clearly the hope, grace and love of Jesus Christ.