By Hymn Stories

      Author --Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863
      Composer --Lizzie S. Tourjee, 1858-1913
      Tune Name -- "Wellesley"

      "But Thou, 0 Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." Psalm 86:15

      Frederick William Faber was born on June 28, 1814, in Calverley, Yorkshire, England. He was raised as a strict Calvinist, strongly opposed to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1838, he published a work titled, The Ancient Things of the Church of England, vindicating the Church of England as opposed to the Roman Church, declaring the Catholic Church to be unscriptural and guilty of adding falsehood to the sacraments.

      During the time of Faber's education at Oxford University, however, he came under the teachings and practices of the Oxford or Tractarian Movement, which exerted a powerful influence upon the Anglican Church, during the mid-1800's. The leaders of this new movement, such as John Henry Newman (See "Lead, Kindly Light," 101 Hymn Stories, No. 53), were of the persuasion that Anglican church services needed to become more liturgical and ceremonial. Much of this concern was due to the growing strength of the evangelical faction, within the Anglican Church, with its greater emphasis upon the individual and his need of a personal conversion experience. Also the concern of the Oxford Movement was the indifferent and careless worship conducted in many of the more independent congregations of that time.

      Following graduation from Oxford, Frederick Faber was ordained into the Anglican Church ministry, and, for the next three years, he served a small parish at Elton, Huntingdonshire, England. His strong preaching contributed to a moral reformation in that community. However, with his personal convictions becoming increasingly more Roman Catholic, he introduced into his ministry such ritualistic practices as private confessions and acts of penance. Finally, Faber went the whole way to which these practices pointed. In 1845, he renounced Protestantism, joined the Roman Church, and was re-baptized as Father Wilfred. He founded a community known as "Brothers of the Will of God" and later as the "Wilfridians. " In 1849, Faber was appointed Superior of the Catholic Brompton Oratory in London, where he spent the remaining years of his life.

      Frederick Faber wrote many devotional and theological books, but he is best remembered today for the 150 hymn texts, that were written by him and published, after he became a Catholic. He worked tirelessly in writing hymn materials that would express the universal Catholic faith and which could be used by the people for their own devotional purposes. Faber had long realized the great influence that hymnsinging had in Protestant circles and was determined to provide materials for the Catholic Church in the same manner. His collections of hymn texts included: Hymns, published in 1849, Jesus and Mary-Catholic Hymns for Singing and Reading, published in 1849, and again in 1852, Oratory Hymns, published in 1854, and another edition of Hymns, published in 1862. Frederick Faber's most popular hymn today, sung by both Protestant and Catholic congregations, is "Faith of Our Fathers" (101 Hymn Stories, No. 22). In 1854, the Pope honored Faber with an honorary, Doctor of Divinity degree in recognition of his accomplishments to Catholicism.

      Throughout his ministry both as an Anglican and as a Roman Catholic priest, Frederick Faber was recognized as a man of personal charm and an eloquent preacher with a great gift of persuasive influence. He died on September 26, 1863, in London, England, at the early age of forty-nine.

      "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" is part of a thirteen-verse poem written by Frederick Faber entitled Come to Jesus. It began with the words, "Souls of men, why will ye scatter like a crowd of frightened sheep? Foolish hearts, why will ye wander from a love so true and deep?" The text was first published in Faber's collection Hymns, in 1862. The present hymn version uses only stanzas 4, 6, 8 and 12. One of the omitted verses is worthy of interest:

      "But we make His love two narrow with false limits of our own;
      And we magnify His strictness with a zeal he will not own."

      There are some meaningful spiritual concepts expressed in Faber's text that are worthy of our contemplation, such as the line, "There's a kindness in His justice which is more than liberty." The final stanza is also a beautiful expression of truth:

      "If our lives were but more simple, we should take Him at His word;
      And our lives would be all sunshine in the sweetness of our Lord."

      The tune, "Wellesley," was composed by a teen-age girl, Lizzie S. TourJee, for her high school graduation exercise. Her father, Dr. Eben Touijee, founder of the New England Conservatory of Music, named the tune for Wellesley College, which his daughter later attended. While serving as one of the editors for the Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Tourjee had the "Wellesley" tune included with this text in the 1878 publication. Although other tunes have been associated with Frederick Faber's text, the "Wellesley" tune has been the one most commonly used, especially in American hymnals.

      "Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice." --Miguel Cervantes