Phillips Brooks


Phillips Brooks

D.D.
Bishop of Massachusetts
ChurchEpiscopal Church
DioceseMassachusetts
ElectedApril 30, 1891
InstalledOctober 14, 1891
Term endedJanuary 23, 1893
PredecessorBenjamin Henry Paddock
SuccessorWilliam Lawrence
Previous posts
Orders
OrdinationMay 27, 1860
by Alonzo Potter
ConsecrationOctober 14, 1891
by John Williams
Personal details
Born(1835-12-13)December 13, 1835
DiedJanuary 23, 1893(1893-01-23) (aged 57)
BuriedMount Auburn Cemetery
DenominationAnglican
ParentsWilliam Gray Brooks & Mary Ann Phillips
Signature
Sainthood
Feast day23 January
Venerated inEpiscopal Church

Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835 – January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. One of the most popular preachers of the Gilded Age, he worked to make the Christian Church more relevant to contemporaries. Among his other accomplishments, he wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

He is honored on the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar on January 23. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical height, standing six feet four inches (1.93 m) tall.