Introduction

Biography

Phillips was the son of Will­iam Gray Brooks and Mary Ann Phill­ips.

He has been called the great­est Am­er­ican preach­er of the 19th Cen­tu­ry. He at­tend­ed the Bos­ton La­tin School, Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty (where Phil­lips Brooks House was named af­ter him) and the Epis­co­pal Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry in Al­ex­an­dria, Vir­gin­ia.

He be­came an Epis­co­pal priest in 1860, and became rec­tor of the Church of the Ad­vent, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia. He was known for his support of free­ing the slaves and al­low­ing for­mer slaves to vote.

In 1869, he be­came rec­tor of Tri­ni­ty Church in Bos­ton. In 1872, he helped de­sign the Tri­ni­ty Church build­ing, which to­day stands in Bos­ton’s Back Bay. In 1891, he be­came Epis­co­pal bi­shop of Mas­sa­chu­setts.

A lit­tle girl of five who had been a fa­vour­ite with Phil­lips Brooks made a strik­ing remark on his death. When the Bi­shop died, her mo­ther came into the room where the child was play­ing, and hold­ing the bright lit­tle face be­tween her hands, said tear­ful­ly, Bi­shop Brooks is gone to hea­ven.

Oh, ma­ma, was the re­ply, how hap­py the an­gels will be!

Campbell, p. 176

Works

• Christmas Songs and East­er Carols (New York: E. P. Dut­ton, 1903)