Monsignor
Hugh J. Phillips, president emeritus of
Mount St. Mary’s University, died July 11
at the age of 97.
"Monsignor
Phillips was, in so many ways, the spirit
of Mount St. Mary's," said University
President Thomas H. Powell. "Having
arrived here as a young boy, he spent his
life in service to the Mount and her
students. His dedication as a teacher,
director of our library, college president
and chaplain of the National Shrine Grotto
of Lourdes helped build the Mount in
service to God, our country and our
students."
Monsignor Phillips
came to the Mount as a sixth-grader and
graduated from its prep school in 1927. He
earned his bachelor’s degree in 1931 and
was ordained from Mount St. Mary’s
Seminary in 1935 for the Archdiocese of
Baltimore. He also received a master’s of
arts degree from the Mount in 1935.
Following his
ordination, he returned to the Mount and
served as its librarian for 32 years. He
personally designed and directed the
construction of the current campus
library—which bears his name—raising the
quality of its holdings and services until
it was cited for excellence by the United
States Department of Education.
His illustrious
teaching career spanned decades—at the
Mount and elsewhere. Besides serving as a
professor of theology and church history
at the Mount, he was a professor of
philosophy, psychology and church history
at St. Joseph’s College in Emmitsburg,
Md., from 1938-50. He also taught
theology, psychology and medical ethics at
the Catholic University of America from
1937-60.
He became the
Mount’s 19th president in 1967, and served
for four years. It was during his
presidency that the Mount’s current system
of governance—with a board of trustees
containing lay and clerical members, as
well as the Archbishop of Baltimore—was
adopted.
Monsignor Phillips
also had a special relationship with
Providence Hospital and the Daughters of
Charity in Washington, D.C. During his
college and seminary years, he operated
Providence’s canning factory in Silver
Hill, where the hospital had its own farm.
He also served on
the Providence Health Foundation.
Perhaps Monsignor
Phillips is best known for his resolve in
restoring the National Shrine Grotto of
Lourdes—which resides on the Mount St.
Mary’s campus. The shrine, which attracts
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each
year from all over the world, is one of
the oldest American replicas of the
Lourdes shrine in France.
Monsignor Phillips
was appointed director of the National
Shrine Grotto of Lourdes in 1958, and was
named Grotto Chaplain by the Archdiocese
of Baltimore when it was proclaimed a
Public Oratory. After completely
refurbishing the shrine, he opened it to
the public. He was responsible for further
enhancing the Grotto with the handsome
Pangborn Memorial Campanile crowned with a
25-foot, gold-leafed bronze figure of the
Virgin Mary, and other significant
statuary monuments throughout the Grotto
grounds.
In 1995, he was
awarded an honorary doctorate of humane
letters for his tireless devotion to the
Mount.
"Today, on campus,
we have many visible reminders of his
proactive leadership. While our community
will pray for his soul, we are confident
that he is now with Jesus, watching over
his beloved Mount community, Powell said."
Monsignor Phillips
will lie in state on July 15 from 9 a.m.-9
p.m., and on July 16 from 7-11 a.m. A Wake
Service will be held July 15 at 7:30 p.m.
The Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m.
on July 16 with The Most Rev. Harry Flynn,
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis,
serving as the principal celebrant and
homilist. Rev. Flynn is a 1960 graduate of
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary.
All services will
be held in the Chapel of the Immaculate
Conception on the Mount St. Mary’s
University campus.