"Faith of our fathers! Mary's prayers
Shall win our country back to thee;
And through the truth that comes from God
England shall indeed be free
Faith of our fathers, Holy Faith
We will be true to thee till death... "
Frederick William Faber
Every Cottonian will have heard of Faber - if not , why not? Didn't you know that the Faber Wing was dedicated to him? Ok , so who was Father Faber? Well , he was the guy who built 'Father Faber's Retreat' in the Valley - it was built as a shrine to Our Lady of Salette as Faber had a great love of the Virgin Mary and all things Italian. Here is a little history of Cotton's Founder.
Frederick William Faber was a convert to Catholicism, having been brought up as an Anglican. He was well educated and attended Balliol , Oxford University - he took Anglican Orders whilst there. But one day he heard John Henry Newman , at that time a vicar ( Newman was regarded as a neo-Catholic) preaching and found in him a kindred spirit. A friendship sprung up between the two men. Faber was well connected and took holidays with the Lakeland poets , including William Wordsworth. This was probably to ensure his own work became read. He was then offered the Rectorship of a Parish in Huntingdon which he accepted , but almost immediately went to Rome to learn how to carry out his duties. This was frowned upon , and so was his other idea of setting up a monastic community , something associated with the Roman Catholics rather than the Anglicans. His parishoners , though quite fond of Fred , decided his position as their Rector was untenable. He left with a number of followers and was received into the Catholic church by old Sedgley Park boy Bishop Wareing. Faber arrived in Birmingham and set up an order called ' Brothers of the Will of God.' ( he was teased that it should be called ' Brothers of your own Will) . He then decided to study in Rome and there he was approached by Lord Shrewsbury , who offered Faber either a wing at the Pugin designed Church ( St. Giles') in Cheadle , or Cotton Hall. Fred chose Cotton and his followers ( now called Wilfridians after Faber became obsessed with the life of St. Wilfrid) started to build a church and a school on the site - bizarrely Cotton village was a place without any Catholics - so they went out encouraging the locals to come to his new Church , which Pugin himself designed and built. Within two years , Frederick (now called Wilfrid) had converted the whole village. Also bizarrely , Faber was not actually a Priest. He may have died at this point. He certainly received the Last Rites as he began suffering from Bright's Disease. He put on a pile of weight. Bright's Disease did eventually kill him. It was at Cotton that he wrote ' St. Wilfrid's Hymn' , now known as 'Faith of our Fathers' - ( the one that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and is regularly voted by the Politically Correct as the worst hymn of all time) . He published 'Hymns Composed for the Congregation and School of St. Wilfrid's, Cotton' , a catchy title , which sold 10,000 copies.
Faber now thought he had gone as far as he could with the Wilfridians and decided that becoming an Oratorian with Newman , also not yet ordained , as the Superior was the perfect way to live life - according to the Founder of the Oratorians , one St. Philip Neri , who was basically happy with Martyrdom which he would preach and greet every student attending the English College in Rome in the 16th Century. Newman was a spiritualist and a cautious type. Faber was spritual , a zealot , who wanted things done yesterday. They were friends but there were tensions between them Eventually , Faber was ordained in 1847 at Cotton and undertook his duties as a Cathoilc Priest proper. In 1849 , Faber and his brotherhood left Cotton to visit the Oratory in Birmingham. The Passionists moved into Cotton Hall. Though not exactly a split , Fred had now basically decided that they had to leave as Cotton was not a town , a necessity in order to set up an Oratory. He went to London with his community and , despite serious bouts of illness , became one of the major figures of Catholicism ( Newman is currently up for Sainthood) .
Fr. Frederick William Faber was a hero of the Church , which had once again become restored in England. He had critics who thought him quirky and self obsessed and ambitious. He died 26th July 1863.
http://www.marypages.com/LaSaletteEng.htm'
