Leo Heinrichs
Template:New unreviewed article Leo Heinrichs is the protomartyr of Colorado. He was a German-born Franciscan Friar and acting pastor at St. Elisabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado. He was martyred on February 23, 1908 while distributing communion.
Biography
Joseph Heinrichs was born on August 15th, 1867, in Oestrich, Rhineland, Germany. Fleeing religious persecution in Germany, the Franciscans fled to America, eventually settling at St. Bonaventure's Friary in Paterson, New Jersey. At St. Bonaventure's on December 4th, 1886, Joseph Heinrichs received the Franciscan habit and the name Leo. He took his final vows on December 8th, 1890, and became an ordained priest on July 26th, 1891.
Between 1891 and 1907, Father Leo served in various positions in the New York and New Jersey area including pastor at Holy Angels parish in Singac (Little Falls), New Jersey, at St. Stephen’s in Croghan, New York, and at St. Bonaventure’s. During a smallpox epidemic while he was pastor at Paterson, Father Leo was known to spend many hours at a nearby “pest house” ministering to the sick and the dying. In September, 1907, the Provincial Chapter appointed him pastor of St. Elizabeth’s parish in Denver, Colorado.
Father Leo arrived at St. Elizabeth’s on September 23rd, 1907. His term as pastor lasted exactly five months. Father Leo received permission to return to Germany to visit his family after an absence of over twenty one years; but he postponed his journey until after June 7th, 1908, when he planned to give First Communion to a class of seventy children.
A week before his death, Father Leo spoke at the Young Ladies’ Sodality meeting. He remarked, “If I had my choice of a place where I would die, I would choose to die at the feet of the Blessed Virgin.”
Death
Father Leo normally celebrated the 8am Sunday Mass, but he requested to switch to the 6 a.m. Mass, normally celebrated by Father Wulstan Workman. Father Leo had intended to attend a meeting later that morning.
Father Leo’s murderer was fifty year old Giuseppe Alia, recently arrived from Sicily through Ellis Island. Alia arrived before Mass and seated himself in the third row, in front of the pulpit. He intended to shoot a priest during the sermon, but at the 6 a.m. “Workingmen’s Mass,” there was only a short sermon from the altar steps so the men would not be late for work. Instead, Alia knelt at the altar rail to receive Communion from Father Leo.
"Alia received the Host, then spat it into his hand and flung it at Father Leo’s face. The Host dropped to the floor outside the communion rail as Alia drew his handgun and aimed it at Father Leo’s heart. An altar boy screamed 'Look out, Father!' as the anarchist fired at Father Leo. The mortally wounded priest exclaimed 'My God, my God!' The priest fell to the floor; he placed the ciborium on the step of Our Lady’s altar, and managed to place two spilled Hosts back into the ciborium before strength left him. In a last gesture, Father Leo pointed to the spilled Hosts that he was now too weak to pick up. Rose Fisher, an eyewitness, reported that Father Leo died smiling, at the foot of the Blessed Mother’s altar. Father Wulstan Workman, who had switched with Father Leo for the later Mass, administered the Last Rites. Father Wulstan told the Denver Post, 'I would have been killed and he would be alive now. There is one way to solve the affair that I can see, and that is that God chose the better man.'
"Alia attempted to flee the Church, but E.J. Quigley, a conductor for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, tripped him, and Daniel Cronin, an off-duty policeman, subdued and arrested the murderer. Alia stated that, if he had not been stopped, he would have shot more priests. Alia was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death within a few weeks of the murder. Shortly before the execution, a Franciscan priest from St. Elizabeth’s visited Alia in prison. The unrepentant anarchist cursed and swore at the priest. Alia never expressed any remorse, and, despite the pleas of the friars at St. Elizabeth’s, he was hanged at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City. Alia’s last words, reportedly, were 'Death to the priests!'"[1]
Mortification
"The coroner found that Father Leo’s upper arms and waist were wrapped in leather straps. Each strap was studded with rows of pointed iron hooks, which pierced the skin. Around the priest’s waist the skin was calloused and scarred, but showed no sign of infection. Father Leo secretly practiced this extreme form of mortification, perhaps to help him master his quick temper. None of his confreres had any idea of his self-inflicted penances. When the friars entered Father Leo’s room after his death, they found that he slept on a wooden door."[1]
References
- ^ a b "Leo Heinrich, O.F.M." Five Franciscan Martyrs Region Secular Franciscan Order.
External Links