Questions and Answers About the Scholarship Needs of the Liturgical Institute

Who are your students?
Liturgical Institute students are men and women, priests, laity, deacons, sisters and brothers. Recently, we have been flooded with applications from young people inspired by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI: recent college graduates, parish music and liturgy directors, members of new religious communities, catechists and teachers.

Why do they choose the Liturgical Institute?
Students choose the Liturgical Institute because its teaching is trustworthy without being rigid, and loyal to the theology of the Second Vatican Council while retaining a positive view of the Church’s great tradition. They also enroll because the Liturgical Institute prays the liturgy as a community in its beautiful chapel, chanting Lauds and Vespers together daily and offering Holy Mass.

What do they learn and what do they do after graduation?
Liturgical Institute students receive an education grounded in the rites of the Church, enriched by study of the theology of the Eucharist and the sacraments. Practical courses in music, art, lay ministry training, inculturation and aesthetics prepare them to bring their educational riches to the faithful. Institute alumni are currently serving as pastors, parish music and liturgy directors, seminary faculty, diocesan liturgy directors and school teachers. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Institute alumnus James S. Wall to the episcopacy as Bishop of Gallup, New Mexico.

Why do students need help with scholarships?
Many of our applicants are recent college graduates, church musicians with young families, or other lay people and religious without institutional financial support. Since they intend to spend their lives working for the Church, they cannot expect large salaries and cannot assume large amounts of debt. Many students are accepted but cannot attend without a scholarship, while others do not to apply at all without the possibility of financial aid.

How can I help?
Please pray for our program and our students. We are eager to do what the Church asks of us! Please consider how God has blessed you and how you might help our students bring reverent, prayerful and beautiful liturgy and liturgical education to you and the next generation of the Catholic faithful. There are no overhead costs — 100% of your donation to the Hillenbrand Scholarship Fund will help a student attend our programs.

Why is the scholarship named for Monsignor Hillenbrand? 

One of Chicago’s most famous and revered priests, Monsignor Reynold Hillenbrand served as rector of Mundelein Seminary from 1936 to 1944 and pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Winnetka, Illinois from 1944 to 1974. As a pioneer of liturgical renewal, Monsignor Hillenbrand rose to national prominence as an author, speaker, and promoter of the connection between liturgy and social renewal. Keenly interested in the participation of the laity in the sacred liturgy, he made his parish a model of liturgical renewal for Chicago and the nation. In 2010, the Liturgical Institute’s publishing imprint, Hillenbrand Books, released the first biography of Monsignor Hillenbrand, Reynold Hillenbrand: The Reform of the Catholic Liturgy and the Call to Social Action, written by Chicago priest Reverend Robert Tuzik.

All donations to the Hillenbrand Scholarship Fund are tax deductible.

Please send a check payable to the Liturgical Institute to:

Hillenbrand Scholarship Fund
The Liturgical Institute
1000 East Maple Avenue
Mundelein, IL 60060

For more information, please call the Institute at 847.837.4542.