Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 18.djvu/116

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Faber
110
Faber

novices. In October 1848 the community, numbering more than forty members, was transferred from Maryvale to St. Wilfrid's. Faber and Father Hutchison established in April 1849 a branch of the Oratory in King William Street, Strand, London. From this period until his death Faber remained at the head of the London Oratory. The community was in 1850 erected into a separate and independent congregation, and in 1854 its members removed to more commodious premises at Brompton. In 1851 Faber went abroad with the intention of visiting Palestine, but his health broke down at Malta, and he was obliged to return home through Italy. On 9 July 1854 he was created D.D. by Pope Pius IX. He died at the Oratory, Brompton, on 26 Sept. 1863, and was buried at St. Mary's, Sydenham.

By his unceasing labours in connection with the London Oratory, by his persuasive eloquence in the pulpit, and by his numerous publications, Faber rendered signal service to the Roman catholic cause in England. He introduced Italian forms of prayer and pious practices, some of which were at first distasteful to English catholics of the old school, and he constantly inculcated devotion to the pope as an essential part of christian piety. The light and charming style of his spiritual treatises, which unite mystical devotion with profound theological learning, obtained for them an extraordinary popularity. His longer poetical works possess considerable merit, and the use of his beautiful hymns is almost universal in catholic churches wherever the English language is spoken. Some of them, as ‘The Pilgrims of the Night’ and ‘The Land beyond the Sea,’ are widely circulated as sacred songs. Many are to be found in protestant collections. The collection of ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ contains several, and the ‘Hymnal Noted’ twenty-four. Faber's biographer observes that ‘words cannot reproduce the gracious presence, the musical voice, the captivating smile,’ or satisfy those whose ‘happiest hours were blessed by the wisdom, holiness, and love of Frederick William Faber.’

His portrait, engraved by Joseph Brown, is prefixed to his ‘Life.’

His principal works are:

  1. ‘The Knights of St. John’ (Newdigate prize poem for 1836).
  2. ‘Tracts on the Church and the Prayer-Book,’ 1839; 2nd series, 1840.
  3. ‘The Cherwell Water-lily and other Poems,’ London, 1840, 8vo.
  4. ‘The Styrian Lake, and other Poems,’ London, 1842, 8vo.
  5. ‘Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches and among Foreign Peoples,’ London, 1842, 8vo.
  6. ‘Sir Lancelot; a Legend of the Middle Ages,’ a poem, London, 1844, 1857, 8vo.
  7. Translation of the seven books of St. Optatus, bishop of Milevis, on the schism of the Donatists. In the ‘Library of the Fathers.’
  8. Lives of St. Wilfrid, St. Paulinus, St. Edwin, St. Oswald, and others, in the series of ‘English Saints’ published by Toovey, London, 1843–4.
  9. ‘The Rosary and other Poems,’ London, 1845, 8vo.
  10. ‘Lives of the Canonised Saints and Servants of God,’ edited by Faber, and continued by the congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, 42 vols., London, 1847–56.
  11. ‘An Essay on Beatification, Canonisation, and the Processes of the Congregation of Rites,’ London, 1848, 8vo.
  12. ‘Hymns,’ London, 1848, 12mo. Another edition, with many additions, entitled ‘Jesus and Mary, or Catholic Hymns for singing and reading,’ 1849; 2nd edition, 1852. A complete edition of the ‘Hymns,’ 150 in number, appeared in 1862.
  13. ‘Essay on the Interest and Characteristics of the Lives of the Saints.’
  14. ‘The Spirit and Genius of St. Philip Neri,’ London, 1850, 8vo.
  15. ‘All for Jesus; or the Easy Ways of Divine Love,’ London, 1853, 8vo; 5th edition, 1855. It has been translated into French, German, Polish, Italian, and Flemish.
  16. ‘Growth in Holiness; or the Progress of the Spiritual Life,’ London, 1854, 8vo.
  17. ‘The Blessed Sacrament; or the Works and Ways of God,’ London, 1855, 8vo.
  18. ‘The Creator and the Creature; or the Wonders of Divine Love,’ London, 1858, 8vo.
  19. ‘The Foot of the Cross; or the Sorrows of Mary,’ London, 1858, 8vo.
  20. ‘Spiritual Conferences,’ London, 1859, 8vo.
  21. ‘Lectures on the Old Testament History,’ preached in 1860 and published after his death.
  22. ‘Devotion to the Pope,’ London, 1860, 12mo.
  23. ‘The Precious Blood; or the Price of our Salvation,’ London, 1860, 8vo.
  24. ‘Bethlehem,’ London, 1860, 8vo.
  25. ‘Notes on Doctrinal and Spiritual Subjects. Edited by the Rev. John Edward Bowden,’ 2 vols., London, 1866.

He also translated ‘The School of St. Philip Neri’ (1850), from the Italian of Crispino; ‘The Spiritual Doctrine of Father Louis Lallemant’ (1855), from the French; ‘The Octave of Corpus Christi,’ from the French of Nouet; and ‘A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin’ (1863), from the French of the Ven. L. M. Grignon de Montfort.

[Life and Letters, edited by Father J. E. Bowden, London, 1869, 8vo, new edit. 1888; Brief Sketch of his Early Life, by his brother, the Rev. Francis Atkinson Faber, rector of Saunderton, London, 1869, 8vo; Saturday Review, 10 Oct. 1863; Athenæum, 3 Oct. 1863, p. 436; Notes and