{"id":56393,"date":"2021-05-27T09:18:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T14:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=56393"},"modified":"2021-06-03T20:50:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T01:50:27","slug":"who-is-helen-mcloughlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/27\/who-is-helen-mcloughlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Helen McLoughlin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever filled a \u201csunburst\u201d gelatin mold in honor of Mary\u2019s Assumption? \"RetroHave you ever sung along to recordings of the Trapp Family Singers (the real ones) at Christmastime?\u00a0 Have you ever celebrated your \u201cnameday\u201d?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve answered yes to at least one of these questions, then you (or someone you love) may have been inspired by Helen McLoughlin\u2019s 1962 volume, My Nameday, Come for Dessert.<\/em><\/p>\n

But do you know who Helen McLoughlin is?<\/p>\n

It has been part of my work\u2026vocation\u2026to try to re(dis)cover some of the wonderful pioneers of the liturgical movement, that era of liturgical interest and social renewal prior to the Second Vatican Council, particularly those who haven\u2019t had much voice.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned about Therese Mueller, sociologist and mother of five, who fled with her husband (Franz) and little daughters from Nazi Germany.\u00a0 The family befriended Fr. Virgil Michel, and quickly became great supporters of the American liturgical movement. \u00a0It was Therese, in fact, who introduced and popularized the Advent wreath in American Catholic family homes and parishes.\u00a0 True story, I promise.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned about Johanna (Trapp) Winter, and her husband Ernst\u2014who became active proponents of the liturgical movement in family life.\u00a0 The couple collaborated in lectures and writing, describing how they brought liturgical spirituality into their home.\u00a0 And just in case you\u2019re wondering, yes, this is Johanna [n\u00e9e] Trapp, as in the \u201cTrapp Family Singers.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are many others.<\/p>\n

But, I\u2019ve got a problem.\u00a0 I cannot discover who Helen McLoughlin is.<\/p>\n

The internet, which exponentially seems to increase every day, is full of clues about our \"\"foremothers and forefathers in the faith.\u00a0 With the right set of facts, I\u2019ve been able to find all the people I\u2019ve sought out\u2014or at least find the right person (usually a really excellent archivist) to ask.\u00a0 But my best efforts (over years) of searching everywhere in the world-wide-web for the real Mrs. McLoughlin\u2026have yielded nothing but her name\u2014and the fact that she wrote four pamphlets for the Liturgical Press on the liturgical spirituality of family life.\"\"<\/p>\n

This is what I know:<\/p>\n