Bl. Peter Faber
Co-founder of the Society of Jesus
Born13 April 1506
Villaret, Savoy
Died2 August 1546
Venerated inRoman Catholicism
Beatified5 September 1872

The Blessed Peter Faber, S.J., (French: Pierre Lefevre or Pierre Favre, Spanish: Pedro Fabro, Latin: Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a French Jesuit theologian and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on 5 September 1872.

Life

Early life

Faber was born in 1506 to a peasant family in the village of Villaret, in the former Duchy of Savoy (now Saint-Jean-de-Sixt in the French Department of Haute-Savoie). As a boy, he was a shepherd in the high pastures of the French Alps.[1] Young Peter had little education, but he did have a remarkable memory; he could hear a sermon in the morning and then repeat it verbatim in the afternoon for his friends.[2] His two uncles were Carthusian priors.[3] At first, he was entrusted to the care of a priest at Thônes and later to a school in the neighboring village of La Roche-sur-Foron.

In 1525 Faber moved to Paris, where he met people from all parts of Europe. He was admitted to the Collège Sainte-Barbe, long the oldest school in the University of Paris, where he shared lodging with a student from Navarre, Francis Xavier.[2] According to Severin Leitner, it was here that Faber spiritual views began to develop, influenced by a combination of popular devotion, Christian humanism, late medieval scholasticism.[3]

Faber and Xavier became close friends, receiving the degree of Master of Arts on the same day in 1530. At the university, Peter also met Ignatius of Loyola and became one of his associates. He tutored Ignatius in the Greek philosophy of Aristotle, while Ignatius tutored the former shepherd in spiritual matters.[1] In 1534 Faber made the spiritual exercises under the guidance of St. Ignatius.[3]

Jesuit preacher

Blessed Peter Faber, S.J.

Faber was ordained in 1534, the first among the small circle of men who formed the Society of Jesus. As a priest, he was able to receive the religious vows of Ignatius and his five companions, which took place at Montmartre, on August 15 of the same year.[4] Three others joined these first six candidates.

After graduation, Ignatius returned to Spain for a period of convalescence. He instructed them all to meet at Venice, and charged Faber to conduct them there.[2] After Loyola himself, Faber was the one whom Xavier and his companions esteemed the most.[5] Leaving Paris on 15 November 1536, Faber and his companions rejoined Ignatius at Venice in January, 1537. Ignatius then thought of going to evangelize the Holy Land, but concluded God had destined him for a wider field of action. They decided to bind themselves together in an apostolic community that became the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit Order.

Faber then moved to Rome, and after some months of preaching and teaching, the Pope sent him to Parma and Piacenza, where he brought about a revival of Christian piety.[5]

Recalled to Rome, in 1540 Faber was sent to Germany to uphold the position of the Catholic Church at the Diet of Worms, which had no significant outcome. He then participated at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1541. Faber was startled by the unrest which the Protestant forces had stirred up in Germany, and by the state of decadence he found in the Catholic hierarchy. He saw that the remedy did not lie in discussions with the Protestants, but in the reform of the Roman Catholic, especially of the clergy. For ten months, at Speyer, at Ratisbon, and at Mainz, he conducted himself with gentleness with all those with whom he dealt. He influenced princes, prelates, and priests who opened themselves to him and amazed people by the effectiveness of his outreach.[6]

Faber possessed the gift of friendship to a remarkable degree. He was famous not for his preaching, but for his engaging conversations and his guidance of souls. He crisscrossed Europe on foot, guiding bishops, priests, nobles and common people alike in the Spiritual Exercises.[7]

Faber exhibited a deep love for the Communion of Saints. As a lone Jesuit often on the move, Faber never felt alone because he walked in a world that bridged time and eternity, whose denizens included sinners, saints and creatures of pure spirit. He would ask the saint of the day and all the saints “to obtain for us not only virtues and salvation for our spirits but in particular whatever can strengthen, heal, and preserve the body and each of its parts”. His guardian angel, above all, became his chief ally. He sought support from the saints and angels both for his personal sanctification and in his evangelization of communities. Whenever he entered a new town or region, Faber implored the aid of the particular angels and saints associated with that place. Through the intercession of his allies, Faber could enter even a potentially hostile region with an assured spiritual army at his side. Finally, Faber found support for his efforts with individuals through the assistance of the blessed. As he desired to bring each person he met to a closer relationship through spiritual friendship and conversation. To reach this end he would invoke the intercession of the person’s guardian angel and related saints. [8]

Called to Spain by Loyola, he had hardly been in Spain six months when, by order of the pope, he was again sent to Germany.[5] For the next nineteen months, Faber was to work for the reform of Speyer, Mainz, and Cologne, which proved to be a huge challenge. The Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann of Wied, was already in favor of Lutheranism, which he was later publicly to embrace. He gradually gained the confidence of the clergy, and recruited many young men to the Jesuits, among them Peter Canisius. It was also at Cologne that Faber especially exercised his zeal. After spending some months at Leuven, in 1543, where he implanted the seeds of numerous vocations among the young, he returned to Cologne. Between 1544 and 1546, Faber continued his work in Portugal and Spain.[1]

Through his influence while at the royal court of Lisbon, Faber was instrumental in establishing the Society of Jesus in Portugal. There and in Spain, he was a fervent and effective preacher. He was called to preach in the principal cities of Spain, where he aroused fervor among the local populations and fostered vocations to the clergy. Among them there was another significant figure in the future of the Jesuits, Francis Borgia. King John III of Portugal wanted Faberh made Patriarch of Ethiopia.[6]

Death

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He was appointed, however, by Pope Paul III to act as a peritus on behalf of the Holy See at the Council of Trent. On his journey to attend the Council, he made it only as far as Rome. Faber, at age forty, was exhausted by his incessant efforts and his unceasing journeys, always made on foot.Faber, weakened by fever, arrived there July 17, 1546, to die in the arms of Loyola, on 2 August 1546.[7]

Veneration

Francis Xavier, Peter Faber and Ignatius of Loyola all became roommates at the University of Paris and are all recognized by the Jesuits as founders of the Society of Jesus. Those who had known Faber in life already invoked him as a saint. St. Francis de Sales, whose character recalled that of Faber's, never spoke of him except as a saint. He is remembered for his travels through Europe promoting Catholic renewal and his great skill in directing the Spiritual Exercises.

Peter Faber was beatified on 5 September 1872.[6] His feast is kept on 8 August.

Faber was honored as part of the 2006 Jesuit Jubilee Year which celebrated the spirit of the founders of the Society of Jesus on three special Jesuit anniversaries:

The jubilee year officially began December 3, 2005 These anniversaries were celebrated in the Jesuits Jubilee year 2006. Lecture series, publications, art and music events marked these anniversaries throughout 2006 at Regis University and within Jesuit institutions around the world.

Legacy

The Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community at Boston College is a space dedicated to the formation of Jesuit priests.[9]

Creighton University confers the Blessed Peter Faber Integrity Award on a student, faculty or staff member who is involved in activities that promote integrity, social justice, peace, and religious, racial, and cultural harmony; and is able to inspire and lead others to distill their values and integrity.[10]

Blessed Peter Faber House at Gonzaga University is an extension of the University Ministry office “retreat headquarters, reserved for preparing retreats, continuing retreats and further developing University Ministry programs.[11]

The Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality was adopted as a ministry of Marquette University in November 2005.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Blessed Peter Faber, SJ (1506–1546)", Ignatian Spirituality
  2. ^ a b c Tylenda, SJ, Joseph N. Jesuit Saints and Martyrs, 2nd ed., Loyola Press, 1998
  3. ^ a b c Leitner, Severin. "The Spirituality of Peter Faber", Review of Ignatian Spirituality, 2005
  4. ^ Michael Servetus Research Website that includes graphical documents in the University of Paris of: Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Alfonso Salmerón, Nicholas Bobadilla, Peter Faber and Simao Rodrigues, as well as Michael de Villanueva ("Servetus")
  5. ^ a b c Suau, Pierre. "Bl. Peter Faber." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 3 Apr. 2013
  6. ^ a b c "Blessed Peter Faber", Living Space, Irish Jesuits
  7. ^ a b "Blessed Peter Faber", ucanews
  8. ^ Gavin S.J., John. "Invisible Allies: Peter Faber’s Apostolic Devotion to the Saints", New Jesuit Review, Vol.2, No.7
  9. ^ Faber Jesuit Community
  10. ^ "Blessed Peter Faber Integrity Award", Creighton University
  11. ^ Faber House, Gonzaga
  12. ^ Faber Center, Marquette University
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