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Dr, Stanislav William Robert Faix (* 1936)

• born on Governor’s Island, NY, US on 8th May 1936

• his mother, Genevieve, was the daughter of Polish immigrants, and his father, William Robert Faix, was the son of immigrants from Central Europe

• joined the Order of Augustinians on 12th September 1950 at 18 years old

• graduated from Villanova University in 1959

• ordained in the Order of Augustinians on 9th February 1963

• received a Fulbright Scholarship and was sent to Poland in 1970-1971

• returned to America in 1971 to complete his doctoral studies, and began teaching at several different universities

• in 1978, Father William was called back to Poland, where he remained until 1995, witnessing the fall of the communist regime

• in 1995, he was called to Prague, where he has resided ever since

• he currently works at St. Thomas Church in Prague, serving a large English-speaking congregation

“My superior said to me, rather jocosely, ‘Your Siberia is gonna be in Prague,’” recalls Father William Faix, a priest with the Order of Saint Augustine. After years spent behind the Iron Curtain, the New York native was faced with the choice: return home to the familiarity and comfort of America, or continue his work in the uncertainty of post-communist Central Europe. He chose neither. What had been a compromise from his original desire to go to Siberia, Russia became a defining point in his life, as Father William has since called the Czech Republic home for the last 30 years.

Father William Faix was born on Governor’s Island in New York City, US, on 8th May 1936. “As you can tell from my accent, I’m a New Yorker, I never lost it,” he laughs at the very beginning of the interview. William grew up on Staten Island, raised by his mother, Genevieve Rolka and his father, William Robert Faix. His mother was the daughter of Polish immigrants, and his father of a mixed background – Austro-Hungarian with a French surname. His parents owned a restaurant, and because of this, William’s grandparents, specifically his maternal grandparents, took on a parental role, helping to raise him and his siblings. “It was really the faith of my grandparents, my mother’s father and mother […] were profoundly Catholic.” Growing up, they would express their faith in small, but meaningful ways: “It was the small things… the pictures of a Saint, they would pray before meals, and this is where the faith began,” he muses.

William, during the interview, recalls a family legend, which has stuck with him over the years. “We always noticed that my grandfather, on Easter Sunday, would fast. He would not really eat very much. I always thought it was strange, you know, Easter Sunday is the big feast day” recalls William. What seemed like a simple fast was, in truth, a testament to a devotion that would shape his grandson’s destiny.

On the other hand, Faix’s paternal grandparents, specifically his grandfather, were not religious, although he came from a profoundly Catholic family. “My grandfather was an atheist,” he acknowledges. “I mean he just had no time, no time, for religion at all.” In spite of his grandfather‘s “anti-religious” sentiments, William decided to join the Church after completing high school, asserting that “it came almost automatically” to him. While William himself was pleased with his decision, his grandfather was not: “He sounded very solemn, and he said to me, ‘I thought you were intelligent,’” Faix laughs at the memory. Despite his initial objection to William‘s decision, he later said to him, “If you’re going to be a priest, be a good priest. Be open to people.” After having met Father William, personally, I can assure the reader that he did.

Joining the Augustinian order

Initially, Faix considered joining the Franciscans, but was ultimately discouraged after receiving no response from the two letters he had sent them. Seeking guidance, he spoke with his local pastor, who told him to sign up for the Order of Saint Augustine. So, in 1950, at the age of 18, Faix joined the Augustinian Order and began his studies: he received an undergraduate education at Villanova University, then went to further his theological education in Washington, DC. Reflecting on his schooling, Faix recalls that it was “heavily academic with very little attention paid to pastoral practice.” Despite this, he appreciates the education he received, as it gave him a strong foundation to be able to discuss religion. In 1963, at the end of his theological studies, Faix was ordained in the Augustinian Order. 

“The day I was ordained, it was freezing cold, February the 9th. There was a snow storm the night before,” he recalls of that day in 1963. Although he had the option of being ordained in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which would have been a much easier trek in the hazardous weather conditions, he could not betray his New Yorker roots and go to “Philly”, New York City’s cultural rival, and thus opted to be ordained in DC, the only other alternative. Following the end of the ceremony, in the midst of all the celebration, William came to find out the reasoning behind the long-held family legend of his grandfather’s Easter Sunday fasting. “Now I can tell you the reason for your grandfather’s meager diet on Easter Sunday,” his mother confessed. “He fasted so that there would be a priest in the family.” Faix pauses, letting the words sink in. What he had once viewed as an odd, spiritual habit, had in fact turned out to be one of the most profound acts of devotion, ultimately setting him on his lifelong journey of dedication to the Augustinian Order and Jesus Christ.

Heading to Poland

Following his ordination, Father William went on to teach high school in Reading, Massachusetts for five years. During these five years, he was asked to teach a variety of different languages, including French, which he was not nearly proficient at. “The French teacher did not show up one year, and since I had a French name, they said just take it for a few months,” he laughs. Despite being ill-equipped to teach French, he very much enjoyed it, and even inspired one of his students to pursue a career in the French State Department in Francophone Africa. After these five years, Faix was sent back to Washington, DC to complete a doctoral studies program at Catholic University, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to continue his studies in Poland in 1970.

“Something which amazed me in 1970, when I lived in Poland as a Fullbright scholar, there were some cities […] where there were streets that were just piles of bricks, there were just ruins. There was very little work that was done,” he comments solemnly. Additionally, he describes the constant dark and cloudy weather and presence of the smell of “oxide,” attributable to the many factories which were belching out smoke. Not only was the environment dreary, but so was everyday life, as there was the constant feeling of being watched: “You could speak about weather and all the other trivialities of life, but you could never speak about current conditions, current political situations, and if something was in the newspaper, you could comment on it, but you had to be very careful as to what you had to say,” Father William explains in the interview. Furthermore, at least once a year, Father William was brought in for questioning by the police, who recounted all of his interactions and movements. “It just seemed that there was no aspect of your life where you felt a freedom,” he says, almost defeatedly. However, Faix also admits that there were bright spots during his time in Poland, and that often, it was the simplest things that got them through. For example, Father William recounts the time one of his former students acquired a bag of instant coffee: “That night, we had a party, and I’m saying to myself, ‘Why am I drinking coffee at 10 o’clock at night?’ And yet, it was a celebration. As I say, simple things meant so much.”

Faix returned to the States in 1971, received his doctoral degree, and began teaching at several different institutions until he was called to return to Poland in 1978. As a member of the Church, Faix describes feeling an ever-present tension between the faith and the communist government: “It seemed to me that both sides were anticipating a crisis… that both were waiting for each other to make a move, and that move would ignite an unrest.” As evidence of the unchanging, bleak environment, despite the passage of seven years, Father William was reminded of a particularly significant event during his first stay, in 1970, when riots broke out in Northern Poland in December. “The government asked the Archbishop of Warsaw, which was a radical move, to get on the radio and to calm the people down,” he says. This was unbelievable, as the standard way of handling opposition under the regime was through repression.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain

In June of 1990, the communist regime fell in Poland. “It was a Sunday, I was going to celebrate mass at Saint Anne’s Church in Warsaw, and the streets were empty… people just couldn’t believe it. It was quiet. It was ominous. Warsaw was empty because we all thought this was going to be an avalanche, or an invasion,” he says solemnly. After the fall of the regime, Father William came to find out that some of his closest friends in Poland had been informants for the regime. “I found out that I had made a mistake,” he says with an uneasy laugh. Ultimately, his time in Poland was a trying one, but not one that he regrets, in spite of everything. “I’m glad I experienced it.”

After his stint in Poland, Father William had the opportunity to return home to the States, or remain in Central Europe. Oddly, he had his heart set on Siberia, but because of visa issues, he was unable to go. As mentioned previously, he was strongly compelled to set out for Prague, which had not even been on his radar. So, at the behest of his superior, he packed his bags and moved to the capital of the Czech Republic, where he has been residing since 1995. When asked if Prague has been his Siberia, William admits, “No, no, it’s far from it… I was not planning on being here. I thought I would be transferred somewhere else. ” William describes the difficulty of arriving in post-communist Czech Republic: “I came in 1995, and the Czech people just came out of a rather dark period in their history. They weren’t quite sure who this American was who couldn’t speak Czech properly.” Father William explains how Czech people, historically, have been quite wary of religion, which has created animosity and resentment amongst the people. After a long year of feeling out of place, a miracle happened on Easter Sunday, a seeming pattern in Father Faix’s life: the Czech people joined him on his Easter Sunday procession through the city. “The longer we went on the procession, the louder the singing became [...] After mass, the people came and wished me a ‘Happy Easter,’ and since then, everything has calmed down. And now I have only good friends, I don’t have parishioners,” Father William says with a smile.

Reflecting on his life and his religiosity, Father William confesses that one of the best decisions of his life was joining the Augustinians: “Now, I think to myself, if I was not an Augustinian, I would be ashamed of myself.” Thanks to the Augustinians, his daily journals, which date back to when he first joined the Order, are stored in the Archives of the Order of Augustinians in Rome, which he hopes will be used to help “fill in the gaps” of history one day. Approaching the age of 90, Father William states that he finds himself thanking God that he is still able to work. Currently, Father William primarily works in pastoral care, which often deals with the ever-looming presence of the very end of life. He acknowledges that death can be intimidating, but that having faith in God can be a pacifying force. “One of the most beautiful descriptions I ever heard of heaven was the description given by Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine said, ‘What is Heaven? Heaven is that place where friends meet and never have to say goodbye.’” quotes Father William. These words bring him final peace.