Martin Cyril D'Arcy (15 June 1888 – 20 November 1976) was an English Jesuit priest, philosopher of love, and a correspondent, friend, and adviser to a range of literary and artistic figures including

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, Dorothy L. Sayers, W. H. Auden,

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsma ...

and

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

. He has been described as "perhaps England's foremost

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

public intellectual from the 1930s until his death".

Background and education

Born at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, Somerset,"Rev. Martin D'Arcy A Jesuit Philosopher, Dies in London at 88", ''The New York Times'', 22 November 1976
/ref> the youngest of four sons of

Northern Circuit The Northern Circuit is a circuit of the General Council of the Bar and English judiciary. The Northern Circuit stretches from Carlisle in Cumberland at its northernmost point, running through Lakeland to the port of Whitehaven in the West, ...

barrister Martin Valentine D'Arcy and Madoline Mary (née Keegan), D'Arcy was educated at Stonyhurst, at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

( M.A.), and at the

Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...

in Rome. He entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

in 1907 and was ordained priest in 1921. He was Provincial of the English Province of the Society of Jesus from 1945 to 1950.

Career

He spent much of his working life at the English Jesuit house in

, Campion Hall, but also spent periods in residence at American universities, including

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

, Cornell, and at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

in Princeton, New Jersey. Among the converts he received into the church was the German-Jewish Baroness Vera von der Heydt. His major work is ''The Mind and Heart of Love'', published by

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

in 1945, which explores theological relation of

eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

love and

agape (; ) is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for uman beingsand of uman beingsfor God". This is in contrast to , brotherly love, or , self-love, as it embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists rega ...

love. His book ''The Pain of this World'' (1935) was on the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an Omnipotence, omnipotent, Omnibenevolence, omnibenevolent, and Omniscience, omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ...

Death

D'Arcy died on 20 November 1976 at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, St John's Wood, London. He is buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.

Memorials

His grave is 39 NE at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, marked with a shared granite grave marker, his details are on the right hand panel. The permanent collection of Loyola University Museum of Art is named in his memory the ''Martin D'Arcy Collection''.

Selected publications

* ''The Nature of Belief'' (1931) * ''The Pain of this World and the Providence of God'' (1935) * ''The Mind and Heart of Love'' (1945)

References

Sources

* * William S. Abell (Ed.) ''Laughter and the Love of Friends: Reminiscences of the Distinguished English Priest and Philosopher Martin Cyril D'Arcy, S.J.'' (Christian Classics, Inc., 1991)

External links

Portraits of Fr D'Arcy
in the

National Portrait Gallery (London) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

.
Fr Martin Cyril D'Arcy
at Find-a-grave 1888 births 1978 deaths 19th-century English people 20th-century English Jesuits 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests Alumni of Campion Hall, Oxford English male non-fiction writers English Roman Catholic writers Masters of Campion Hall, Oxford People educated at Stonyhurst College {{RC-clergy-stub