Henry Denifle - Life and Work

Life and Work

His father, who was the village schoolmaster and church organist, had him educated in the episcopal seminary of Brixen. On his reception, at Graz, 22 September 1861, into the Dominican Order, he took the name of Heinrich (he was baptized Joseph). Denifle began his studies of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas in Graz. After his ordination in 1866 in Graz Denifle studied with Tommaso Maria Zigliara at the College of St. Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum. Denifle next pursued studies at St. Maximin near Marseilles. After his return to Graz, Denifle taught philosophy and theology for ten years (1870–1880). In 1877 Denifle stood the examination "ad gradus" in Rome and was created a "Magister Theologiae" by the Master of the Order. During the period of his teaching in Graz he was recognized as one of the best preachers in Austria. A course of apologetic sermons delivered in Graz cathedral Die katholische Kirche und das Ziel der Menschheit (The Catholic Church and the goal of mankind) was printed in 1872. Denifle, who had loved music from his boyhood and composed pieces at fifteen, also published in 1872, as his first literary essay, an article on the Gregorian chant: Schönheit und Würde des Chorals (The beauty and value of choirs). That even then his mind was occupied with a subject about which his last and perhaps his greatest work was destined to be written, is evident from a series of articles entitled Tetzel und Luther (Tetzel and Luther), which appeared in 1873. From that time onward, though he preached occasionally, the biography of Denifle is the description of his literary achievements. His life therefore may be divided into four periods characterized respectively by work on theology and mysticism, medieval universities, the Hundred Years' War between France and England with its consequences to the Church, and Luther and Lutheranism.