Many tributes have been paid to the exceptional character and gifts of the late Fr. George Fressanges, who met his death so tragically at the height of his powers in the Ilford train crash in January. He has been the subject of a sermon preached in Norwich Cathedral; the leader of the Nonconformists in Norwich has written of him as a ‘Man of God,’ a saint; and the Catholic recognition has been widespread. But the breadth of Fr. Fressanges’s character and accomplishments was so extensive that no attempt has as yet been made to convey a whole portrait of the man,, nor could it be for several years. But while we hope that eventually some worthy biography shall appear to assist Catholicism in England, it may be of value not only to the future biographer but to those who will be built up or ‘edified’ by the example of a great priest to outline one aspect of Fr. Fressanges’s life.

He was ordained by Bishop Youens in the last days of 1936, so that his life as a priest lasted just over seven years. The first six months were spent as a curate at Sheringham, where there was not very wide scope for his inexhaustible vitality; the remaining six and a half years he spent at Norwich. During that time he was never more than a curate, being on the eve of receiving a parish of his own when he met his death.