Albany James Christie (18 December 1817 – 2 May 1891) was an English academic and
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest.
Life
His father was Albany Henry Christie of
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area.
Chelsea histori ...
, and he was related to the auction house family founded by
James Christie. In 1835 he was elected an Associate of
King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
from the Department of General Literature and Science. He matriculated at
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...
on 2 July 1835, at age 17. He graduated B.A. there in 1839, with a
first class in ''
literae humaniores'', and was a Fellow of Oriel from 1840 to 1845, graduating M.A. in 1842.
Initially Christie was in favour with the
Noetics
In philosophy, noetics is a purposed branch of metaphysics concerned with the study of mind as well as intellect. There is also a reference to the science of noetics, which covers the field of thinking and knowing, thought and knowledge, as well as ...
at Oriel.
Over the summer 1838 he was occupied with editorial work on the ''
Library of the Fathers
The ''Library of the Fathers'', more properly ''A library of fathers of the holy Catholic church: anterior to the division of the East and West'', was a series of around 50 volumes of the Church Fathers, annotated in English translation, publishe ...
'', an
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
project of
E. B. Pusey. This was in a house in
St Aldate's, Oxford
St Aldate's () is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street.
The street runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax. The Town Hall, which includes the Museum o ...
, shared with
James Mozley and
Mark Pattison, as well as his brother. As a Fellow Christie worked on the church history of
Claude Fleury, with
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
. Then in 1843 he turned to
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
and his work ''De virginitate'', which with other factors aroused suspicion that he had Catholic sympathies.
Edward Hawkins
Edward Hawkins (27 February 1789 – 18 November 1882) was an English churchman and academic, a long-serving Provost of Oriel College, Oxford known as a committed opponent of the Oxford Movement from its beginnings in his college.
Life
He was bor ...
, Provost of Oriel, acted on the disquiet of others to put pressure on Christie, often absent from the college. By 1844 it was made clear to Christie that he would not have a recommendation from Hawkins to take Anglican orders.
He failed to take deacon's orders from the Bishop of Oxford, for that reason, a decision by Hawkins connected with Tractarian opposition to
Renn Hampden. He began to look at a medical career.
Christie in 1844 divided his time between
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...
, as a medical student, and
Littlemore
Littlemore is a district and civil parish in Oxford, England. The civil parish includes part of Rose Hill. It is about southeast of the city centre of Oxford, between Rose Hill, Blackbird Leys, Cowley, and Sandford-on-Thames. The 2011 Censu ...
, Newman's small place of retreat just south of Oxford. In the following year, 1845, he walked in silence with the tearful Newman from Oxford to Littlemore, at the critical time, according to
Wilfrid Ward
Wilfrid Philip Ward (2 January 1856 – 1916) was an English essayist and biographer. Ward and his friend Baron Friedrich von Hügel have been described as "the two leading lay English Catholic thinkers of their generation".
Life
Wilfrid Ward wa ...
's biography, when Newman was breaking from the Church of England. He himself became a Catholic convert, in London during October 1845, also entering formally the College (medical school) at Bart's. In 1847 he joined the Jesuits as a novice.
Christie was later known as a Catholic playwright and poet.
In 1856 he became Superior of the seminary at
Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall.
In 1858 he was sent on mission work, and in 1862 he went to
Farm Street Church in London.
He received Sydney Fenn Smith into the Catholic Church in 1864, and
George Tyrrell
George Tyrrell (6 February 1861 – 15 July 1909) was an Anglo-Irish Catholic priest and a leading modernist theologian and scholar. A convert from Anglicanism, Tyrrell joined the Jesuit order in 1880. His attempts to adapt Catholic theology ...
in 1879. He died in London, on 2 May 1891.
Works
Christie wrote:
*''The Ecclesiastical History of M. l'abbé Fleury, from the Second Ecumenical Council to the end of the fourth century'' (1842, 2 vols.) translator; further parts of the work were translated by George Buckle and
William Kay.
*The ''Officium Eucharisticum'' of 1673 by
Edward Lake (1843), preface
*''On Holy Virginity; with a brief account of the life of St. Ambrose'' (1843)
*''The Day Hours of the Church, with the Gregorian Tones'' (1844)
*''On the philosophy of Christianity'', in ''Essays on Religion and Literature'' (1867), edited by
Henry Edward Manning
Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but con ...
*''The Martyrdom of St. Cecily: a drama'' (4th edition 1870)
*''Union with Rome: Five afternoon lectures'' (1869)
*''The first Christmas, a play'' (1875)
*''The End of Man: In Four Books'' (1886), devotional poem of 8000 lines, based on the
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
*''Two Lectures on the Papacy'' (Preston).
They comprised (1) ''The Papacy or Catholicity the counterpoise to tyranny'' and (2) ''On Church and State, with special reference to the Austrian Concordat''
He wrote in the ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...
'' as A. J. C.; and edited the monthly ''Catholic Progress''.
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Albany James
1817 births
1891 deaths
19th-century English Jesuits
English male poets
English dramatists and playwrights
Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford