Faber, Frederick William [key], 1814–63, English theologian and hymn writer. A friend of John Henry Newman and an adherent of the Oxford movement, he became (1843) rector of Eton. In 1845 he entered the Roman Catholic Church and with some of his friends and parishioners founded a religious community in Birmingham, which merged in 1848 into the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1847, he helped found in 1849 the oratory in London, of which he was superior for the rest of his life. His poetical works include “The Cherwell Water-Lily” (1840); his many well-known hymns were collected in Hymns (1848). Other writings include nine contributions to Lives of the Canonized Saints (1844–45), The Blessed Sacrament (1855), and The Foot of the Cross (1853–60).
See biography by R. Chapman (1961).
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