# Post-Mediæval Preachers/Matthias Faber

​ Matthias Faber was born at Neumarkt, in Bavaria, in the year 1586. He was appointed to the cure of the parish of St. Maurice in Ingolstadt, and to the professorship of the University in that town. Whilst there he published three volumes of sermons for every Sunday in the year, and these have gone through six editions.
He was much regarded as a preacher, and deservedly so, for he was a man full of learning and genius, though not remarkable for his eloquence.
In the year 1637, at the age of fifty-one, he was received into the Society of Jesus at Vienna, and continued after his reception to preach with considerable success. He then published another volume of sermons for all the Sundays and the principal festivals of the year. This book, divided into two parts, is called the Auctuarium, and was thenceforward published along with the former volumes. The Concionum opus tripartitum, together with the Auctuarium, contain one thousand and ninety-six sermons. Besides these, he preached funeral and marriage orations, published after his death, which took place on the 26th of April, 1653, at Tyrnau.
​It is not to be expected that in such a vast collection all should be of equal merit; and yet few of Faber’s sermons would be put down as bad. The vast majority of them are remarkably good, and full of matter. Not one, perhaps, could be found which does not contain more suggestive remarks than we are accustomed to hear from the modern pulpit in a month. Faber is brief, but what he says he has thought well over, and it is always worth the hearing. He is almost too brief sometimes, for he throws out a brilliant remark, and goes on to another without making the most—without, indeed, making any thing of the former.
How great is the contrast between him and a modern preacher, who every Sunday labours through a polished and carefully worded essay, containing in many words the feeblest whiff of an idea! And Faber could vary his matter to suit his hearers. Preaching before his University, he discussed learned questions in Divinity with great lucidity; but preaching to the good citizens of Ingolstadt, he confined himself to practical instructions.
His style is dignified and earnest, but it is not eloquent, though many of the passages in his sermons are very graceful. And he is perfectly free from the bombast which supplied the place of eloquence among certain preachers of his day.
Matthias Faber does not shrink from telling a story, and a story with a good practical moral to it, but he does not attempt simile to any extent.
There is an apparent crudity in his discourses. Probably this is owing to their being printed from the ​abstract which he drew up before preaching; so that when delivered, the apparent abruptness and ruggedness of this outline may have been smoothed away.
Few ancient preachers would be more serviceable to a clergyman of the present day, or more acceptable to an English congregation. Unfortunately, the volumes are somewhat scarce, and consequently expensive.
The following is a list of Faber’s works and their several editions:
1. Controversiæ contra Altorfienses Professores.
2. Concionum opus tripartitum; Ingolstadii, 3 vols. fol., 1631; Cracoviæ, 1647.
3. Auctuarium Operis Concionum Pars; Græcii, fol., 1646; Antverpiæ, 2 vols. fol., 1647.
Auctuarium pro Dominicis et Sanctis; Cracoviæ, fol., 1647.
Opus Concionum, Pars Hiemalis; Antverpiæ, 3 vols. fol., 1650.
Auctuarium; Antverpiæ, fol., 1653.
Opus Concionum....cum Auctuario; Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 4to., 5 partes, 1669.
Opus Concionum, Pars Æstivalis; Antverpiæ, fol., 1663.
Opus Concionum; Coloniö, 3 vols., 4to., 1693.
Concionum Sylva nova, seu Auctuarium. Cui accedunt Conciones Funebres, Nuptiales, et Strenales posthumæ. Coloniæ, 4to., tomus primus, 1695.
4. R. P. Matthiæ Fabri Conciones Funebres; Brugis, 12mo., 1723.
5. Höret den Sohn Gottes; Olivö, 24mo., 1678.
I shall give the reader the outline of some of Matthias ​Faber’s sermons, that he may judge for himself whether he deserves the praise I have accorded to him.
Fourth Sunday in Lent.
St. John vi. 13. “They gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves.”
Introduction.
1. Learn fervour and zeal for hearing the Gospel.
2. Learn the various effects produced by God’s Word on different hearers.
Faber is singularly infelicitous in filling this basket. He observes that our Lord at one time drew near to the sea, but did not enter it; at another put off a little from land, but soon returned to it, and now in to-day’s Gospel crosses the sea, and having crossed it, performs the miracle: so does He shadow forth three kinds of Christians in His mystical Body, the Church: those who only approach the bitter sea of repentance, those who just enter it and again return to land, and those who traverse it and are found meet to sit down in green pastures at His heavenly banquet.
3. Learn the custody of the eyes.
Christ “lifted up His eyes” and beheld the multitude. He had them before on earth, not straying hither and thither; and so He teaches us to restrain our wandering gaze. His eyes meekly rested on earth; Eve’s, straying among the boughs, saw the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and those wandering eyes brought death into this world. So did the restless eyes of Potiphar’s wife light on Joseph, so did the unguarded eyes of David fall on Bathsheba, and the curious eyes of the two elders on Susanna. But we are not required to keep our eyes always fixed on earth, or closed; but to restrain them from idle curiosity, to avert them from dangerous ​ objects, and to guard them carefully when we pray. There are, on the other hand, times when we should raise them, after the example of Christ. For the considering and relieving of the poor (John vi. 5), in giving thanks (Mark vi. 41), in praying (John xvii. 1), in giving instruction (Luke vi. 20), in seeking the glory of God in all our actions (John xi. 41).
4. Learn to ask God’s blessing on your food.
As Christ gave thanks, and looking up to Heaven blessed the loaves and fishes.
We have the same lesson in Deut. viii. 10, “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God.” And we have the example of the Israelites who would not eat of the victims till Samuel had blessed them.
5. Learn care for the poor.
Christ gave the loaves and fishes to His disciples to distribute among the multitude, and so He gives the rich their abundance, not for them to consume it themselves, but that they may “distribute and give to the poor.”
6. Learn to see God’s providence in the support of all men, and especially of His own servants.
Thus did God provide manna for the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. xvi. 12), bread and meat for Elijah during the famine (1 Kings xvii. 4), food for Daniel in the lions’ den (Bel and Dragon, 83).
7. Learn to seek the food of the soul before seeking that of the body.
Thus Christ before feeding the multitude “spake unto them of the kingdom of God” (Luke), “began to teach them many things” (Mark).
8. Learn that fasting precedes festival, Lent goes before Easter.
So now Christ retired to the wilderness, as “the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand; and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves” (John xi. 55.)
9. Learn moderation and frugality in diet.
Christ performed the miracle of feeding five thousand, not with luxuries, but with plain and wholesome food, to teach us not to care about luxurious living, but to be content with simple diet.
10. Learn that there should be order in the Church.
For the people sat not down till commanded, and then, not in confusion, but in ranks.
11. Learn to avoid waste, and what is superfluous learn to give to the poor.
This may be gathered from the fragments being collected by the Apostles at Christ’s express command.
12. Learn to despise worldly honours.
For when the multitude would have taken Jesus by force, and made Him a king—as we read in to-day’s Gospel—He fled from them into a high mountain apart.
Let all who have been fed from these fragments of instruction be satisfied, and, thanking God, acknowledge Christ for their true king.
First Sunday after the Epiphany.
St. Luke ii. 51. “His mother kept all these sayings in her heart.”
Introduction.
In God’s Word we find rules of life for all conditions of men, for all stages of life, for all positions in society. The Gospel for this day gives instruction to several grades of men.
1. Parents are taught:—
α. To train their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. To bring them at an early age to the house of God, to teach them to love its courts, to take pleasure in its services, and to delight in the instructions given there.
β. To seek their children when they wander from the paths of righteousness, to seek them sorrowing, and to find no rest till they see them restored.
2. Children are taught—
α. To follow God rather than man; to obey Him in preference to their earthly parents, remembering that “He who loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me.”
β. But in every thing else, except where the will ​ of parents clashes with the will of God, cheerfully to submit to them.
3. Married persons are taught to feel for each, other, and to sympathize with each other. Thus Joseph entered into the grief of Mary at the loss of her Son, and returned with her to Jerusalem in quest of Him. And Mary showed deference to her husband, saying, “Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing,” placing Joseph in honour before herself.
4. Kinsfolk and acquaintance are taught that they have a responsibility in the children of their relatives. Mary and Joseph sought Jesus among them. So God required Abel at the hand of Cain. So the Apostle writes to Timothy, “If any man provide not for his own (i.e. look not after his own), and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
5. Priests are taught to abide in the temple, and to be ready to hear the doubts and perplexities of others, and to answer them as God gives them understanding.
6. Finally, all may learn—
α. From the fact of Joseph and Mary coming to Jerusalem, notwithstanding that Archelaus did still reign there, and leaving their substance and business for the service of God—that we should not allow vain excuses to hinder us from attending public worship.
β. From the fact of Christ the Eternal Wisdom ​ deigning to listen humbly to these blind Pharisees and ignorant doctors—that we should not puff ourselves up with the consideration that we know better than those whom God has appointed over us as teachers, but in lowliness hearken to their instructions.
γ. From the fact of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus accomplishing the days, and not leaving before the feast was over—that we should not be eager to rush out of church in the middle of service, in the midst of the celebration of the Blessed Sacrament, before the completion of the sacrifice.
δ. From the fact of Mary and Joseph going to Jerusalem, “according to the custom of the feast,”—we learn to submit to all laudable customs, and not to set ourselves against them on the plea of our superior wisdom or understanding.
ε. From the fact of Mary and Jesus going to Jerusalem, whereas the law was not binding upon women and children—we learn not to rest satisfied with the letter, but to go on to the spirit; not to be content with mere conformity to the bare commandment of God, but with loving hearts to strive to “do more for His sake than of bounden duty is required.” (The Church, for instance, bids us communicate three times in the year, but let us draw near oftener to the altar of God. The law of God requires us to give tithes of our goods, but let ​ us give more, be liberal-hearted, and liberal-handed, and glad to distribute. S. B. G.)
ζ. From the fact of Christ being said to have increased in favour with God and man—let us learn to seek first the favour of God, and then the favour of good men will be added to us. Those who seek first the favour of men, often lose both that of man and God. Pilate, to find favour with Cæsar, fearing the accusation, “Thou art not Cæsar’s friend,” gave up Christ. And what did he gain? Nothing; he lost the favour of God and of Cæsar. By the one he was driven into exile, by the other he was cast down into hell.
Conclusion.
From like fearful end may Christ in His mercy keep us.
I will add a few specimens of the style of Matthias Faber. And I shall quote first some portions of an Easter sermon.
“See how our hope and confidence should be fixed on God. For the women went to the sepulchre through the morning twilight, without thought of the soldiers who guarded it, or of the sepulchral stone which closed it, for removing which they were far too weak. But as they drew nigh they considered this difficulty among themselves, saying, ‘Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?’ And yet they turned not back despondingly, but resolutely persevered, trusting in God to provide the way and means. ​And so it was as they trusted: by the providence of God the stone was removed by an angel, and at the sight of the angel the keepers fled in fear. Where human aid is wanting, there, if we trust in God, Divine aid is present.”
“Behold the place, where we can see an image of the beatitude which we may expect on the Resurrection day. We see it in the angel. For he appeared as ‘a young man,’ and we all shall arise in ‘the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,’ in the flower of youth. His countenance was like lightning, and the bodies of the blessed shall be resplendent as the sun. He was vested in ‘raiment white as snow,’ signifying the glory and beatitude of the soul; ‘And white robes were given unto every one of them’ (Rev. vi. 11), those white robes which are promised to him that overcometh (Rev. iii. 5). He sat upon the stone—image of the constant and perpetual rest, ay, and regal dignity of the blessed in Heaven. And lastly, the angel was sitting on the right side,’ for in Heaven there is nothing sinister and adverse, but all right, prosperous, and happy. But of this I have said enough elsewhere.”
The following are from a Palm Sunday discourse:—
“Processions are in use in the Church on this day with palm-branches, in imitation of that in which Christ our Lord was this day conducted by the crowd and His disciples to the city of Jerusalem. But our Jerusalem is in Heaven, and thither are we advancing, led by Christ. With Him, and by Him, must we enter the vision of peace which Jerusalem signifies. In this procession he who takes not part, enters not Heaven. ​For the idle and the spectators have no admission there. All those who took part in that triumphal entry into Jerusalem had something to do. Some loosed and led up the ass and colt, some laid their garments on them, some set Jesus thereon, some spread the public road with garments, some cut down branches from the trees, others again sang; the very beasts fulfilled their office, and bore their Creator. In like manner must we do something for Christ, if we would become partakers of His glory.”
After having applied these several acts of the multitude to various conditions of life, in a practical manner, he comes to the seventh, “Others cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David,” which he explains thus, “This do those who are happy and well-to-do in this present life, who are tossed by no storms of adversity, but sail on a tranquil sea. But there is danger in a life so calm in its state of wealth and pleasure. Yet they who have it, may also enter into the Blessed City, if they refer those good things which they enjoy to God, and diligently thank Him for them, ‘singing and making melody in’ their ‘hearts to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Eph. v, 19, 20.) In like manner the state of felicity in which they were created was not injurious to the holy angels, for directly they were created they began to sing praises and give thanks to God for the benefit they had received, as God testified to Job, ‘The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.’ (Job xxxviii. 7.) And by reason of this praise, they were confirmed in a state ​of grace and felicity, and received glory. For this cause the holy patriarchs, though they abounded in earthly possessions, yet lost not their salvation. For indeed, they referred all their fortune, their prosperity, their abundance, to God. Thus Noah, saved from the deluge, ‘builded an altar unto the Lord;’ thus Abraham, having received a promise of the land for a possession, ‘built an altar unto the Lord.’ Thus did Isaac when he received the promise of the seed; thus did Jacob when delivered from the fear of Esau; thus, too, in acknowledgment of the good things they acquired, they called these things gifts of God; as Joseph called his sons, and as Jacob his sons and his flocks.
“If those who sail in prosperity, would but imitate these, and sing praises to God, they would reach the port of safety without difficulty.”
I have said that Faber did not excel in simile. I must instance a few of his attempts at illustration of this nature, to corroborate my statement.
In one sermon, already quoted, he speaks of persons who begin repentance, and then soon break off from their pious exercises, to return to their old state of torpor and indifference, and he says they resemble frogs, which crawl a little way out of their swamp, but, at the least sound to alarm them, flop into their slough again.
In another sermon, Faber rebukes those who ask thoughtlessly in prayer, and make no use of the blessings given them in answer, and he tells them they are like the boys who on bonfire night go about begging wood with the song,— ​
* “Lieber Herz Sanct Veith,
* Bescher una ein Scheitt.”
* “O dear Saint Vitus,
* Grant us a faggot!”
And what use do they make of the faggot when they have it? asks the preacher. Why they make a fire with it, on which they may jump, till they have stamped it out!
And in speaking of the obedience of servants to their masters, he says it should resemble that of the man who is being shaved. Such a man turns his head this way, or that way, puts his chin up, or puts it down, in obedience to the slightest gesture and sign of the barber.
Faber is fond of quoting popular sayings and proverbs; some of which I give in his quaint old German:—
* 1. Wer sich mischt unter die Klew,
* Dem fressen die Saw.
* 2. Ein guter Zoll
* Ist spardir woll.
* 3. Wo tein gleicher Glauben ist
* Da auch tein Recht, betrawen ist.
* 4. Sanct Catyarein,
* Schliest die Thur ein.
This is in reference to St. Katharine’s day closing the door of the Christian year.
I must find space for one story related by Faber on New Year’s Day.
A farmer once told a wise man that he was daily becoming poorer; whereupon he received from the wise man a casket, with the advice to take it daily into his kitchen, his garden, his storehouse, his vineyard, ​his cellar, his stable, and his field; and then, on the condition that the box was not opened till the year’s end, the sage promised wealth to the farmer. The husband-man obeyed implicitly: in the kitchen he found the cook wasting the meat, in the cellar the vats leaking, in the fields the labourers idling, in the garden the vegetables unhoed. All these disorders were rectified, and by the year’s end the man’s fortune was doubled. Then he opened the casket, and found in it a slip of paper, on which was written:
* “Wills du Dag dir reichlich geling
* Solves taglich zu deinem Ding.”
Which, Faber adds, is like the German saying, The best soil for a field is that in the farmer’s shoe.