28
June 1814 A.D. Tracto-head
Freddy Willly Faber born. One of the
Tracto-haters of the Reformed and Reformation faith. A Newman lackey.
Contents
Life
Early life
Faber was born in 1814 at Calverley, then within the Parish of Calverley in the West Riding of
Yorkshire,[1] where his
grandfather, Thomas Faber, was the vicar.
His father served the local bishop of the Church
of England as his secretary.[2]
Faber attended grammar school at Bishop
Auckland in County
Durham for a short time, but a large portion of his boyhood was
spent in Westmorland. He afterwards
attended the Harrow School for five years,
followed by enrollment in 1832 at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. In 1834, he obtained a scholarship at the University College, from which he graduated. In 1836 he won the Newdigate
Prize for a poem on "The Knights of St John," which
elicited special praise from John
Keble. Among his college friends were Arthur Penrhyn
Stanley and Roundell Palmer, 1st
Earl of Selborne. After graduation he was elected a fellow of the college.
Faber's family was of Huguenot descent, and Calvinist beliefs were strongly
held by them. When Faber had come to Oxford, he was exposed to the Anglo-Catholic preaching of the Oxford
Movement which was beginning to develop in the Church
of England. One of its most prominent proponents was the popular
preacher, John Henry Newman,
vicar of the University Church of
St Mary the Virgin. Faber struggled with these divergent
forms of Church belief and life. In order to relieve his tension, he would take
long vacations in the Lake
District, where he would write poetry. There he was befriended by
another poet, William Wordsworth.
He finally abandoned the Calvinistic views of his youth and became an
enthusiastic follower of Newman.[2]
An Anglican vicar
Faber received Holy
Orders in the Church
of England in 1839, after which he spent time supporting himself as
a tutor. In 1841 a traveling tutorship took him to the continent; on his return,
he published a book called Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches and among
Foreign Peoples (London, 1842), with a dedication to his friend, the poet
Wordsworth.[2]
In 1843, Faber accepted the position
of Rector at a church in Elton,
then in Huntingdonshire now in Cambridgeshire. His first act was to go to Rome to learn how best to carry out his pastoral charge. Faber introduced the
Catholic practices of celebrating feast days, confession and the devotion of the Sacred
Heart to the congregation. However, there was a strong Methodist presence in the parish and the Dissidents packed his church each Sunday in
an attempt to ridicule his Catholic leanings. Many of his parishioners were
reputed to be living in sin and the village was notorious for its double
standards. He developed the thought of following a monastic way of life, and
was joined by several men with whom he formed a small community in the rectory.[2]
Faber caused a small furore through
his publication of a Life of St. Wilfrid, in which he supported the claim of primacy by the pope. Nonetheless he was accepted by the people of the parish.[2]
A Catholic priest
Few people were surprised though when,
after prolonged mental struggle, Faber left Elton to follow his hero Newman and
join the Catholic Church, into which he was received in November 1845 by Bishop
William Wareing of Northampton. He was accompanied in this step by eleven men of the small community
which had formed around him in Elton. They settled in Birmingham, where they
informally organized themselves in a religious community, calling themselves
the Brothers of the Will of God.[3]
Faber and his small religious
community were encouraged in their venture by the Earl of Shrewsbury,
who gave them the use of Cotton
Hall in Staffordshire. Within weeks they had begun construction on a new Church of St. Wilfrid,
their patron saint, designed by the noted church architect, Pugin, as well as on a school for the local children. All of this was for a
region which had no other Catholics at that point, other than the household of
the Earl. The exertions took their toll on Faber, who became so ill that he was
not expected to live and was given the Last
Rites of the Church. He recovered, however, and was ordained a
Catholic priest, celebrating his First
Mass on 4 April 1847. In the course of his illness Faber had
developed a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Prompted by this devotion, he translated St. Louis
de Montfort's classic work, True Devotion to
Mary, into English.[3][4]
The Oratory
Along with Newman, Faber felt drawn to
the way of life of the Oratory of St Philip
Neri, with its decentralized authority and greater freedom of
life than in religious institutes. His interest was heightened when he learned that Newman himself had
become an Oratorian while in Italy. Faber envisioned having his community at
Cotton Hall form a new community of the Oratory, with Newman as Superior.
However, this could not happen at Cotton Hall since the Oratorian rules
required that they be an urban community.[2]
Faber's enthusiasm for joining
Newman's work was not returned. For one thing, the Earl, who had handsomely
financed the construction of a new parish for the community, felt betrayed by
such a quick departure. Additionally, the Wilfridians, as the Brothers were
called, wished to wear a traditional religious habit, upsetting the Old
Catholics who had survived centuries of persecution by keeping a low profile.
Newman thus proposed that Faber's community settle somewhere other than
Birmingham, and suggested London as the best option. Thus in 1849 a community
of the Oratory was established in London in King William Street.
On 11 October 1850, the feast of St.
Wilfrid, the community in London was established as autonomous, and Faber was
elected its first provost,
an office he held until his death. He took ill again, however, almost
immediately, and was ordered by his physicians to travel to a warmer climate.
He attempted a trip to the Holy
Land but had to turn back, and instead toured Malta and
Italy. The community still lacked a permanent home, and in September 1852 a
location was chosen at Brompton. The Oratorians proceeded with construction despite public protests at
their presence.[3]
Last years
Faber had never enjoyed good health.
He had suffered from illness for years, developing what was eventually
diagnosed as Bright's Disease,
which was to prove fatal. In spite of his weak health, much work was crowded
into those years. He published a number of theological works, and edited the Oratorian
Lives of the Saints.[5]
Father Faber was the great-uncle of Geoffrey Faber, co-founder of the
publishing house "Faber and Gwyer" which later became "Faber
and Faber", a major publisher of both literary and religious
works. One of its main editors was T.
S. Eliot.[6]
Hymns
Among his best-known hymns are:
- Faith of Our Fathers (hymn)
- Jesus My Lord, My God, My All
- Father of Mercies, Day by Day (1849)
- I was wandering and weary
- Jesus is God, the glorious bands (n. 298, The Church Hymn Book (1872)), written in 1862
- My God, how wonderful thou art (n. 195 in Hymn Book), written in 1849
- O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord (n. 754, Hymn Book), written in 1848
- O paradise! O paradise (n. 1443, Hymn Book), written in 1849
- Oh, come and mourn with me awhile (n. 464, Hymn Book), written in 1849
- Oh, gift of gifts (n. 676, Hymn Book), written in 1848
- Sweet Saviour, bless us were we go
- There's a Wideness in God's Mercy (translated into Swedish in 1970 by Britt G. Hallqvist)
- The Greatness of God
- The Will of God
- The Eternal Father
- The God of my Childhood
- The Pilgrims of the Night
- The Land beyond the Sea
- The Shadow of the Rock
Those hymns are also used in Protestant collections as well. Faber was a supporter of congregational singing and
wrote his hymns in an age when English Catholics did not necessarily feel
comfortable singing the hymns of their Protestant neighbors. So Faber, as a
Catholic, expanded their hymns suitable for congregational singing and
encouraged the practice.[7]
Works
In addition to many pamphlets and
translations, Faber published the following works:
- The Cherwell Water-Lily and Other Poems (1840)
- Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches and among Foreign People (1842)
- Sir Lancelot: A Legend of the Middle Ages (book-length poem, 1842; revised edition, 1857)
- The Styrian Lake and Other Poems (1842)
- The Rosary and Other Poems (1845)
- An Essay on Beatification, Canonization, and the Congregation of Rites (1848)
- All for Jesus, or The Easy Ways of Divine Love (1853)
- Growth in Holiness, or The Progress of the Spiritual Life (1854)
- The Blessed Sacrament, or The Works and Ways of God (1855)
- Poems (1856)
- The Creator and the Creature, or The Wonders of Divine Love (1857)
- The Foot of the Cross, or The Sorrows of Mary (1858)
- Spiritual Conferences (1859)
- The Precious Blood, or The Price of Our Salvation (1860)
- Bethlehem (1860)
- Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects (2 volumes, 1866)
Sources
- Addington, Raleigh, Faber, Poet and Priest - Selected letters by Frederick William Faber from 1833-1863, (D Brown and Sons Ltd, Cowbridge and Bridgend, 1974)
- J. E. Bowden, Life and Letters, (London, 1869),
- F. A. Faber, A Brief Sketch of the Early Life of the late F. W. Faber, D.D., (London, 1869), by his brother
References
2.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Frederick William Faber". Owen
Spencer-Thomas. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
3.
^ Jump up to: a b c Frost, Alan (26 July 2006). "Frederick William Faber". Seattle Catholic.
Retrieved 12 November 2012.
4.
Jump up ^ The Blessed Virgin Mary in England by
Brother Anthony Josemaria 2008 ISBN 0-595-50074-9 pages 173-175
6.
Jump up ^ Biographical note on Geoffrey Faber on jacket
of his book Oxford Apostles published by Penguin Books 1954 edition
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Frederick William
Faber
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Wikisource has original works written by or about:
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- Catholic Encyclopedia Entry
- A collection of Anglican tracts by Faber
- Excerpts and commentary on the book "Kindness" by Faber,including many of his famous quotes, located in Chapter 3 of this website.
- 88 Most Popular & Representative Christian Hymns From Frederick William Faber
- O paradise. [Words by] Rev. F. W. Faber. [Music by] C. B. Hawley. [For] high voice. From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
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