United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

14 THE CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY OF CHRIST

INTRODUCTION TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE LITURGY IN THE SACRAMENTS —CCC, NOS. 1076-1209

MARTIN LOVED LITURGY

“Today, Sunday, November 9, 1890, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the Lord blessed us with our first child. Next Sunday he will become a Christian and his name will be Martin Hellriegel.” These words were written by Martin’s mother in her prayerbook, and the Baptism took place at St. Peter Church in Heppenheim, Germany. The child flourished in a good Catholic home, and at age seventeen he received a scholar ship to Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Ordained in 1914, he served first as an assis

tant in a parish, then as a chaplain to the Sisters of the Precious Blood at O’Fallon, Missouri, for twenty-two years. In 1940 he became pastor of Holy Cross Church in St. Louis where he served until his death forty years later. During his long years as a priest, he was a pioneer of the liturgical move ment in the United States, always from the viewpoint of pastoral practice. This movement aimed to bring people closer to the meaning and effec tiveness of Christian worship. Following the teaching of Pope Pius XII’s 1947 encyclical On the Sacred Liturgy ( Mediator Dei ), Msgr. Hellriegel sought to help his parish ioners draw from the liturgy grace and strength for Christian living. He did this by showing them how the readings, ceremonies, and music can open their hearts to the presence of Jesus living and active in the liturgy. He drew his people into a loving participation in the Mass and the other