Frederick William Faber

Frederick William Faber was born at Calverley, Yorkshire, on June 28, 1814. Educated at Harrow, Shrewsbury, and Oxford, he won Oxford's Newdigate Prize and became a fellow of University College. He was ordained in the Church of England, served as rector of Elton, and was shaped by the Oxford Movement and John Henry Newman. In 1845 he entered the Roman Catholic Church with members of the community he had formed around his ministry; he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847.

Faber's community joined the Oratory of St Philip Neri, and Newman sent him to establish the London Oratory in 1849. Faber became the autonomous house's first provost in 1850 and served until his death. He wrote English Catholic hymns partly because he admired the congregational effectiveness of Newton, Cowper, and the Wesleys and believed Catholic worship needed accessible modern texts in English.

The poem from which There's a Wideness in God's Mercy was extracted first appeared in Oratory Hymns in 1854 and was expanded in Faber's Hymns in 1862. His other lasting texts include Faith of Our Fathers, My God, How Wonderful Thou Art, O Paradise, and Hark! Hark, My Soul. His devotional books include All for Jesus and Growth in Holiness. Faber died in London on September 26, 1863, after years of poor health.