Helmut Alfons Schlegel (born 15 May 1943) is a German

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, meditation instructor, author, librettist and songwriter. He is known for writing new spiritual songs ( Neues Geistliches Lied), set to music by various composers.

Career

Born Helmut Alfons Schlegel in Riedlingen, he grew up on his parents' farm in Upper Swabia and attended boarding schools of the Franciscans in Riedlingen and in Rottweil. He felt a connection to

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

and joined the Franciscan Order. Then he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in Monastery Gorheim in Sigmaringen, Monastery Frauenberg in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and was ordained priest in 1969 in Fulda. An extra-occupational course for meditation and retreat accompanist as well as in meaning-oriented

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

( Logotherapy) complemented his education. Schlegel worked for ten years in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

and in other places as chaplain and as minister for young people (''Jugendpfarrer''). From 1988 he directed the ''Franziskanisches Zentrums für Stille und Begegnung'' (Franciscan centre for silence and meeting) in Hofheim am Taunus. In 1998 he was elected the

provincial superior A provincial superior is an officer of a religious institute (including religious orders) acting under the institute's Superior General. A provincial superior exercises general supervision over all the members of that institute in a territorial ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

n Franciscan province. In this function, he was also for six years the president of the German Franciscan missionaries, organized as Missionszentrale der Franziskaner in Bonn. From 2007 until October 2018, he has directed a centre for Christian meditation and spirituality of the Catholic Diocese of Limburg ( Holy Cross – Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality ()) at the church Heilig Kreuz in Frankfurt- Bornheim. where worked until June 2019 as a retreat and meditation leader and priestly co-worker. Even after the end of his activity in Bornheim he continues to offer events in the retreat house Hofheim and in cooperation with the Holy Cross – Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality. Schlegel worked also in the diocese's , dedicated to new church music for young people. Schlegel wrote the texts for new spiritual songs ( Neues Geistliches Lied, NGL), first in collaboration with the composer and church musician Winfried Heurich. Their song "Der Herr wird dich mit seiner Güte segnen" (The Lord will bless you with his goodness), with music by Thomas Gabriel, was acknowledgeded in a worldwide competition in 1983 as the best entry in German. It was included in the Catholic hymnal '' Gotteslob'' as GL 452. Schlegel wrote around 300 NGL, with melodies also by , Joachim Raabe, Rudolf Schäfer and Sieglinde Weigt, among others. Schlegel was from 1998 to 2013 the editor of the Franciscan magazines ''Wege mit Franziskus'' and ''Franziskaner''. From 2013 he has edited, together with Mirjam Schambeck sf the book series ''Franziskanische Akzente'' in the in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. On a commission by the Diocese of Limburg, he wrote the text for an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

with music by Peter Reulein, '' Laudato si' – Ein franziskanisches Magnificat'', published by the Dehm-Verlag in 2016. He structured the work, based on the Magnificat in Latin, in a prologue and five scenes; he included texts by

who began the praises of his '' Canticle of the Sun'' with "Laudato si'",

Clare of Assisi Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled ''Clara'', ''Clair'' or ''Claire''; ), is an Italians, Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. Inspired by the te ...

and

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

who wrote the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

Laudato si' ''Laudato si'' (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope criticizes consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and gl ...

Selected books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Songs, song books, oratorio

* " Auf zu neuen Horizonten", in ''Ein Segen sein'' * " Der Herr wird dich mit seiner Güte segnen", in '' Gotteslob'' * " Glauben können wie du", melody by Joachim Raabe, GL 885 in ''Gotteslob'' Limburg * " Jesus Christus, Menschensohn", melody by Joachim Raabe, GL 764 in ''Gotteslob'' Limburg * * * * * *

Texts for sacred musical plays

Schlegel wrote the texts for sacred plays with music about the lives of Clare of Assisi and St. Elizabeth. * * * * * * *

References

External links

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Helmut Schlegel
Carus-Verlag
Meditationskirche ging an den Start / In der Filialkirche Heilig Kreuz wurde das Zentrum für christliche Meditation und Spiritualität eröffnet
(in German) St. Josef, Bornheim 2007
Viele Berufe, eine Berufung
(in German) kirchenzeitung.de 13 March 2016
hr 2 kultur Morgenfeier am Pfingstsonntag / Tiere – Viecher oder Geschwister?
(in German) Broadcast for Pentecost by HR 15 May 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlegel, Helmut 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests 21st-century German Roman Catholic priests German male writers Christian hymnwriters Franciscans 1943 births Living people People from Riedlingen