Miles L. Fay, SJ papers

Collection

Collection BC-1995-079: Miles L. Fay, SJ papers

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1909 - 1990

Scope and Contents

Composed of lecture notes, research, course materials, scholarly articles, newsletters, newspaper clippings, correspondence, travel journals, and photographs. Much of the material relates to the works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, a nineteenth-century English Catholic convert, Jesuit, and poet. The collection also includes extensive course materials on the theology of Christ and Mary. Fay's personal diaries cover his experiences on pilgrimages to "the Holy Land," including stops in Israel, Iraq, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. He also journaled about his time spent aboard the SS Nieuw Amsterdam in 1954, and his work as a chaplain for the U.S. Naval Communication Station in Nea Makri, Greece in 1968.

Creator

Fay, Miles L. (Miles Lawrence), 1921-1990 (Person)

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research; a small number of folders are closed due to privacy restrictions.

Restrictions on use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical note

Miles Lawrence Fay, SJ was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on June 27, 1921 to Gertrude W. Walsh and Miles L. Fay. In 1940, Fay entered the Society of Jesus at Shadowbrook in Lenox, Massachusetts, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from Weston College in 1946 and 1947, respectively. His first teaching assignment was at Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, Connecticut, from 1947 through 1950. Fay was ordained in 1953 by Richard Cushing, Archbishop of Boston and earned his licentiate in sacred theology at Weston College the following year. From 1955 until 1963, Fay was director of admissions at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, before becoming a faculty member at Boston College. He joined the Boston College theology department as an assistant professor in 1963, and was granted tenure in 1970. Fay primarily taught courses in the theology of Christ, the theology of divine presence, and on the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ. He went on to earn his doctorate in sacred theology from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy in 1970, and did post-doctoral study at Louvain University in Belgium in 1971.

Fay died at Youville Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 14, 1990.

Sources:

"Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZ5B-HR6 : 13 June 2019), Miles L Fay, 1990.

"Miles Fay, SJ, 27-year member of Theology faculty, dies at 69." Boston College Biweekly, Volume 11, Number 4 (https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=bcbiweekly19901018-01.2.19&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------), October 18, 1990.

"Obituaries." The Boston Globe. October 16, 1990.

Extent

4.25 Linear Feet (4 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection documents twentieth-century theologian and Boston College professor Miles L. Fay, SJ through his detailed travel journals, course materials, extensive theology research and notes, and personal photographs, calendars, and genealogy materials.

Arrangement

Arranged in three series: I. Biographical; II. Professional; III. Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ research. Series are arranged alphabetically.

Provenance

Gift of Miles L. Fay, SJ, 1995.

Related Materials

Hopkins family papers, MS.1991.023, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

William Van Etten Casey, SJ papers, BC.1991.035, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Separated Materials

Published works associated with this collection have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.