Father Faber

[MarysLittleFlower]

Anyone else reads Fr Faber? I'm reading "the Precious Blood". And wow. Its like theology in poetry.  

[MarysLittleFlower]

Here's a little quote

"We are then to consider, first of all, the Mystery of the Precious Blood. It was one of God's eternal thoughts. It was part of His wisdom, part of His glory, part of His own blessedness from all eternity. You know that creation, although exceedingly ancient, perhaps so ancient was to be beyond our calculations, is nevertheless not eternal. It could not be so. To be eternal is to be without beginning; and to be without beginning is to be independent of any cause or power. That is a true description of God. But creation had a time at which it began, and it was the independent act of God's most holy, most condescending will. Thus there was an eternity before creation, a vast unimaginable, adorable life, not broken up into centuries or ages, not lapsing but always still, not passing but always stationary, a life which had no past and no future, because its whole self was always present to itself. This was the life of God before any creation, an unspeakably glorious life which we can think of with love and adoration, but which it is quite impossible for us to understand. We shall say more of it in the third chapter. Some holy persons, like Mother Anne Seraphine Boulier of the Visitation at Dijon, have had such an exceeding devotion to this life of God prior to creation, that they have by God's order shaped their spirituality wholly upon it. Very often, when the troubles of life vex and ruffle us, or when we are downcast and distrustful, it would do us good to think of that ancient life of God. It would fill us with quiet awe. We should feel our own littleness more sensibly, and we should care less about the judgements of the world. The thought of it would be like a bed to lie down upon, when we are weary with work or fatigued with disappointment". (Father Faber, "the Precious Blood", London: Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd).

What a thought!

some people think his prose is too 'flowery' - I personally like it quite a bit. But whatever your view is of his prose, his theology is beautiful.

Edited August 30, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[Maggyie]

"Ancient life of God" lovely. 

[Spem in alium]

I have quoted Fr Faber in my thesis. I really like what he says here:

"There are flowers which give out their perfume in the shade, and grow more sweet as the sun mounts higher in the sky. They lie hidden under cool beds of rank green herbage, beneath the shadow of mighty trees, and yet when the warm air of the noon has heated the unsunny forest, these blossoms fill the foliaged aisles with their prevailing incense. Their odour gives a poetry and a character to the woodland scene, and by that odour the spot lives on in our memory afterwards. Such is the sweet fragrance of St Joseph in the Church, stealing upon us unawares, perpetually increasing, and especially filling with itself all the shades of Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Egypt, but not reaching to the bare exposed heights of Calvary. Throughout the Sacred Infancy St Joseph is the odorous undergrowth of all its mysteries. We cause the perfume of his blossoms to rise up as we stir among them; and while we seem to be heeding it but little, because the Mother and the Child are so visible and beautiful, nevertheless we should miss it, and stay our steps, and wonder, if it were to cease." (Bethlehem)

[Not The Philosopher]

Never read him, but he sounds pretty neat!

[MarysLittleFlower]

Beautiful quote :D I want to get more of his books. I just read 29 pages of Precious Blood today and couldn't stop.

Isn't Fr Faber the one who translated True Devotion? 

Edited August 31, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower