Herwegen, Ildefons

HERWEGEN, ILDEFONS. - Benedictine abbot, promoter of the liturgical movement in Germany, b. at Junkersdorf (Cologne) on 27 Nov. 1874, d. at Maria Laach on 2 Sept. 1946. In 1895 he entered the famous Rhenish monastery of Maria Laach (Andernach am Rhein); he studied at Seckau (Austria), at St. Anselm (Rome), specializing in Christian archaeology, then at Maredsous (Belgium). In 1913 he was elected 44th abbot of Maria Laach.

Endowed with extraordinary gifts of spirit and heart, devoted to scientific research, above all in the field of the history of law, of art and of monasticism, and understanding the current problems of religious life, H. was in the twenty years between the two world wars, not only for his abbey but also for Catholic intellectuals, in Germany and beyond, the head of a profound movement of liturgical renewal.

Even in contributing to the rebirth of liturgical "science," H. ultimately aimed at the religious goal of "liturgiae vitam vivere" (Pius XII, encyclical Mediator Dei). A fine psychologist, an effective orator, a connoisseur of sacred art, H. had wide influence, and was the guide of the important association "Katholischer Akademikerverband."

In 1911 he founded the collection of monographs entitled Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Mönchtums und des Benediktinerordens (16 vols.), which he followed with the series of liturgical popularizations Ecclesia Orans (19 vols.). H. published more than 10 books or pamphlets, of which the most famous are: Der heilige Benedikt. Ein Charakterbild (3rd ed., Düsseldorf 1926; translations into Hungarian, Flemish, English, Italian [Montecassino 1932], French and Bohemian); Sinn und Geist der Benediktinerregel (Einsiedeln 1944).

Baldassarre Fischer