Francis A. (Francis Aloysius) Baker

author

Francis A. (Francis Aloysius) Baker

1820–1865

A convert who became one of the early Paulist Fathers, he wrote and preached with warmth, conviction, and a gift for making Catholic teaching feel personal. His life moved from Protestant circles into Roman Catholicism, and that spiritual journey shaped much of his work.

1 Audiobook

Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul

Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul

by Francis A. (Francis Aloysius) Baker

About the author

Born in Baltimore in 1820, he was the son of Dr. Samuel Baker and was educated at Princeton. After a period of searching that led him through different Protestant traditions, he was received into the Catholic Church in the 1840s.

He went on to become a priest and one of the founding members of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers. He was known as a preacher, lecturer, and writer, and his published works often grew out of sermons, spiritual instruction, and the religious questions of his time.

He died in 1865 in New York. Remembered for both his conversion story and his role in early Paulist history, he remains of interest to readers drawn to nineteenth-century American Catholic writing and religious biography.