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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 scholarship to Kenrick Seminary in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Ordained in 1914, he served first as an assistant 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 movement in the
United States, always from the viewpoint of pastoral practice. This move-
ment aimed to bring people closer to the meaning and effectiveness 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