Reynold Henry Hillenbrand (July 19, 1904 – May 22, 1979) was an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

priest and leader in the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

, Robert L. Tuzik, "The contribution of Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand (1904–1979) to the Liturgical Movement in the United States: influences and development," doctoral dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 1989
Robert L. Tuzik, ''Reynold Hillenbrand: The Reform of the Catholic Liturgy and the Call to Social Action,'' Hillenbrand Books, 2010
Keith F. Pecklers, SJ, ''The Unread Vision: The Liturgical Movement in the United States of America: 1926–1955'', Liturgical Press, 1998 He was a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

rector, pastor, and

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

chaplain.
Mary Irene Zotti, ''A Time of Awakening: The Young Christian Worker Story in the United States, 1938 to 1970'', Loyola, 1991 He followed the methods of Belgian Cardinal

Joseph Cardijn Joseph Leo Cardijn (; 13 November 1882 – 24 July 1967) was a Belgian Catholic cardinal and the founder of the movement of Young Christian Workers (''Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne'', JOC). Cardijn was best known for his lifelong dedicati ...

Early life and education

Hillenbrand was born on July 19, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois, second among nine children and grandchild of German immigrants in Wisconsin. His parents were George Hillenbrand and Eleanor Schmidt and members of Saint Michael’s parish in Chicago’s Old Town. Personally recruited by Cardinal

George Mundelein George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Archbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death in 1939. He was elevat ...

to attend Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Hillenbrand graduated and matriculated to Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary (Mundelein Seminary), where he founded and edited the school's daily newspaper, ''The Candle''. He was also a member of the school orchestra and choir. He completed a license and doctorate at Saint Mary of the Lake.

Career

In 1929, Hillenbrand was ordained to the priesthood. In 1931, Cardinal

named Hillenbrand, age 31, rector of Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. Named a monsignor, Hillenbrand's three-part approach of faithfully presenting papal teaching, calling lay apostles, and bringing laity through the Catholic liturgy to social action, helped form US Catholic leadership prior to the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, which his innovations during the

liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII The liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII took place mostly between 1947 and 1958. Groundwork On 20 November 1947, Pius XII issued the encyclical '' Mediator Dei''. It included the statement: "the use of the mother tongue in connection with sever ...

anticipated.Reynold Hillenbrand, "The Priesthood and the World," In J. E. Haley (Ed.), ''Apostolic Sanctity in the World: A Symposium on Total Dedication in the World and Secular Institutes'', Notre Dame Press, 1957, pp. 26-34 Hillenbrand also championed the causes of labor and race relations, and brought the first women speakers,

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...

, and later Baroness Catherine de Hueck Doherty, to the

University of St. Mary of the Lake The University of Saint Mary of the Lake (USML) is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. It is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois. USML wa ...

, his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, where he served as rector from 1936-1944. Several of Hillenbrand's seminary students, including Alfred Leo Abramowicz, Romeo Roy Blanchette, Daniel Cantwell, Michael R. P. Dempsey, John Joseph Egan, Thomas Joseph Grady, George G. Higgins, Timothy Joseph Lyne, Eugene F. Lyons, Edward A. Marciniak, John L. May, Paul Casimir Marcinkus, Cletus F. O'Donnell, William J. Quinn, and James A. Voss, became influential in social action and/or in both pre- and post-Vatican II American Catholic affairs.
Albert J. Schorsch, III, "Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand: a Reassessment," A paper submitted to the Spring meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association (April 17–18, 2009) Hillebrand died in 1979.

Legacy

Hillenbrand Books, published by The Liturgical Institute at the

University of Saint Mary of the Lake The University of Saint Mary of the Lake (USML) is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. It is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois. USML was ...

, in collaboration with Liturgy Training Publications, is a scholarly book series named in Hillenbrand's honor.
Hillenbrand Books website, accessed 10/2/10 A Reynold Hillenbrand Institute was based in Chicago's archdiocesan college seminary from 1992–94, moved to the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, and closed at the approximate time of the founding of the Liturgical Institute there in 2000. A Hillenbrand lecture series continues at the Liturgical Institute.
"Hillenbrand Distinguished Lecture," ewtn.com website, accessed 10/9/10

References

External links

eCatholic: Monsignor Reynold Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand and the Sacred Liturgy, a memorial website to Reynold Hillenbrand at the Liturgical Institute, Mundelein Seminary, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL

Reynold Hillenbrand papers, University of Notre Dame Archives, South Bend, IN

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillenbrand, Reynold Henry Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Activists from Chicago Roman Catholic activists University of Saint Mary of the Lake alumni 1904 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Religious leaders from Illinois Catholics from Illinois