Francis J. Finn

Father Francis J. Finn, (October 4, 1859 – November 2, 1928) was an American Jesuit priest who has been called the "Catholic Horatio Alger". He wrote a series of 27 popular novels for young people, which contain likeable characters and adventure, and emphasize the importance of prayer and keeping true to the values of the Catholic Faith.

Early life

Francis J. Finn was born on October 4, 1859, in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents, John Finn and Mary Whyte Finn, were both Irish immigrants. He attended parochial schools. As a boy, Francis was deeply impressed with Cardinal Wiseman's famous novel of the early Christian martyrs, Fabiola. Eleven-year-old Francis was a voracious reader; he read the works of Charles Dickens, including Nicholas Nickleby and The Pickwick Papers. From his First Communion at age 12, Francis began to desire to become a Jesuit priest. Fr. Charles Coppens urged Francis to apply himself to his Latin, to improve it by using an all-Latin prayerbook, and to read good Catholic books. Fr. Finn credited his vocation to this advice and to his membership in the Sodality of Our Lady.

Priesthood

He entered the Society of Jesus in 1879 after graduating from St. Louis University. Francis began his Jesuit novitiate and seminary studies on March 24. As a young Jesuit scholastic, he suffered from repeated bouts of sickness. He would be sent home to recover, would return in robust health, then would come down with another ailment. Normally this would have been seen as a sign that he did not have a vocation, yet his superiors kept him on. Fr. Finn commented, “God often uses instruments most unfit to do His work.”