The F o u nder of The L ondo n O rat ory R FAB ER H A LL—%ATCH CA R DI N A L BO U R N E ’ BU R N S TE D 69 DA S , L T . 1 1 A 9 4 FATH ER FAB ER B W H L - y . AL %ATCH Verger at the London Oratory Wit h a F o re wo rd by H i%Eminence CA R D IN A L B O U R N E ° B U R N S 69 O TES L T D . A , 28 OR CHARD STREET L OND ON W , 1 91 4 F O R EWO R D H E na m e of F ath e r F ab e r is a ho u se hold wo r d am ong c E Catholi s in ngland , and his hym ns an d othe r writings are in gr ate fu l re m e m b ran c e wh e re ve r n u e Catholi c s u se t he English to g . B u t those still l e ft wh o kn e w him p e rsonally are now v e ry f e w ; the L ife w ritt e n soon afte r his de ath is e u the e not asily fo nd , and d tails of his int e re sting c a re e r and e difying e are r r e lif in dange of b e ing fo gott n . F or this re ason w e h e artily we l c om e this a c c o u nt of t he fi rst S upe rio r the L O r r c e of ondon ato y , whi h ow s so m u c h of its e v e r fru itful work to his inspi r ation and the t r aditions ’ a h e e e We b e G th t stablish d . g od s e re r f o he m e r bl ssing and wa d r t c o pil . F N I S N B O R E R A C CA R D I A L U N , e Archbishop of We stminst r . ebruar tb 1 1 . F y 4 , 9 4 AL L that t he author desire s in this little Life of F ather Faber is to supply a demand to which he , in his position , has e his r peatedly had attention drawn , e e viz . , a small cheap book t lling som thing e about Fath r F aber . Most grateful thanks are offered to F ather Sebastian Bowden and to F athe r B e a e K . D . est for th ir kindly dvic , and the permission of the latter to use his ’ ” d poe m on Faber s Grave . An also to Fathe r R alph Kerr for permission to reproduce the pictures for the illustrations . September 191 3 . LIST OF I LL U STRATIONS Father Faber F rantifpit a e - Facsimile of the MS . of Fath r F a n ”H m ’ Faber s most popular Hymn 29 The First London Oratory, 8 - St . 1 1 8 King William , 49 5 3 A R agged Congregation The Old Oratory at Brompton Th e New London Oratory ’ Father Fab er s Grave 5 5 REDER ICK WI LLIAMFABER on 2 8 1 8 1 F was born June , 4, the man who, under God , was des tined to do more for the revival of the Catholic Faith in England than any other during the short period of hi s life H is in the Church . grandfather was of incumbent Calverley, and at the Vicarage there Fre derick William Faber H e first saw the light . was not baptized at the church at Calverley, as might have been expected but w as taken to the f a o . church St Wilfrid , whose n me he aft erwards took and to whom he app ealed Make us the missioners of Mary and of R ” ome . ’ As a child , the child of his mother s ” w as prayers , he a great favourite , and e of is d scribed as an open disposition , e e ard nt and impulsiv , eager and deter on mined , generally looking any under taking which he had in hand as b eing of e the grea t st importance . F A T H E R F A B E R ’ H is parents Calvinistic views of n e c essit e t he t he h y influenc d mind of c ild , and we find them expresse d from time to time in his earlier years at Oxford . At the age of 1 I years he had been s ent to Shrewsbury School , afterwards going H to arrow , where he remained till his n B 1 8 2 matriculatio at Oxford ( alliol) in 3 , going into residence in 1 83 3 The description given of him at this time reads like a page from the life of his “ beloved father St . Philip Of pre e possessing appearance , with gr at con ver sat ion al te gifts , a general favouri , l of and leading a life ful joy, innocence and purity, which description may well e be used for t h whole of his life . H is father died the year of his going to e e Oxford , his moth r died four y ars before . Indeed , the life of Faber can almost be n learned from his poems and hym s , which “ often read like a diary . I worship T e e of G od h e , Sw et Will was the refr ain which ran through the whole of H is his Short but busy life . poetical 2 F A T H E R F 4 B E R e es e instincts early Showe d thems lv . Th impressions of his childhood and the beauty of the scenes in which his e arly years were passed neve r faded from his mind H ow wonderful Cre ation is The work that Thou didst bless An d T , O what then must hou be like , ” Eternal loveliness . t oo Oxford , , made its deep impression e H o The R v . n him . John enry Newman ’ was then vicar of St . Mary s . Faber soon became what he called an acolyth” to the man who was d e stined to be his S u i of per or in the Congregation St . %hilip . In the year 1 83 3 began the great Move “T i ” ment known as the ractar an , for the revival of H igh Church principles ; and Faber ’s correspondence Shows the f on da of ef ect it had him . On the first y 1 834 we find him writing Tran sub st an t iat ion e n has b e bothering me , not that I le an to it ; but I have seen no ” of B u t refutation it . still the early e i H e influenc s preva led . feared that the 3 F A TH E R F A B E R Tractarian Party would be led on to e e r extr mes , and almost resolved to r tu n to t he Evangelical tenets he formerly B . held . In a letter to J . Morris , he says I am now never happy unless I am thinking , talking and writing respecting things ete rnal y et I have had none of those miraculous heart awakenings , none of those visible interfe re nces of the Spirit to pluck me as a brand from the H burning . owever , I suppose the power of religion acts in t en thousand diff erent in st ru ways , and by ten thousand various t he ments , according to constitutions and t e mperaments of those over whom its agency is to be exercised . Nevertheless , I must likewise confess that when I look f or of the fruits my faith , I cannot ” find any . From now he is continually quoting m New an , at first to criticise him In arranging my thoughts f or my Church A e e e e rticl , I hav be n thinking a gr at deal on t he merits and t endency of Newman i sm and I have b e com e more than eve r 4 F A T H E R F A B E R Am I convince d of its falsehood . chime rical in anticipating quite as much danger from t he mysticisms of Newman as from the rationalities of What eley I sa e can most sincerely y , that aft r having been an unprejudic e d acolyth of New ’ of man s , an attentive reader his works , and a diligent attender at his Church , I found the impressive simplicities of the Bible irksome to me all its great con sol at ion s were knocked away from under me , and vague bodiless Platonic reveries were the food my soul craved for . Observe I kn ow that this is not the case with im Newman himself . I believe h to be an - eminently pious , humble minded Chris tian , but I think that he has sat at the feet of the early contemplative philosophers with an unscriptural humility and that he has imbibed their notions . Of course it would be preposterous in me to charge upon Newman what was probably in a great me asure my own fault ; but still I think I may argue that t he t endency of ” e his syst m is bad .