Faber, Frederick William

(1814–63)

   Devotional Writer.

   Faber was born in Yorkshire and was educated at the University of Oxford. He came from an Anglican family, but at Oxford he was greatly influenced by John Henry newman and followed him into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845. Initially he went with Newman to the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, but in 1849 he was sent to found a new oratory in London. The two men subsequently quarrelled over the issue of hearing nuns’ confessions. Faber was a famous and affecting preacher, but is now remembered for his devotional writings. These include All for Jesus, Growth in Holiness, The Blessed Sacrament, The Creator and the Creature, The Foot of the Cross and The Precious Blood. All achieved huge circulation, although, by today’s standards, his books seem florid and overemotional. His hymns, such as ‘My God, how wonderful thou art’, and ‘Hark! Hark my soul’, are still sung.

   D. Brown, Faber: Poet and Priest, edited by R. Addington (1974);

   R. Chapman, Father Faber (1974).