Born Helmut Alfons Schlegel in
Riedlingen, he grew up on his parents' farm in
Upper Swabia and attended boarding schools of the Franciscans in
Riedlingen and in
Rottweil. He felt a connection to
Francis of Assisi and joined the Franciscan Order. Then he studied
philosophy and
theology in Monastery Gorheim in
Sigmaringen, Monastery Frauenberg in
Fulda and
Munich and was ordained priest in 1969 in Fulda. An extra-occupational course for meditation and
retreat accompanist as well as in meaning-oriented
psychology (
Logotherapy) complemented his education. Schlegel worked for ten years in
Wiesbaden and in other places as chaplain and as minister for young people (
Jugendpfarrer). From 1988 he directed the
Franziskanisches Zentrums für Stille und Begegnung (Franciscan centre for silence and meeting) in
Hofheim am Taunus. In 1998 he was elected the
provincial superior of
Thuringian Franciscan province. In this function, he was also for six years the president of the German Franciscan missionaries, organized as
Missionszentrale der Franziskaner in Bonn. From 2007 until October 2018, he has directed a centre for Christian meditation and spirituality of the
Catholic Diocese of Limburg (
Holy Cross – Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality ()) at the church
Heilig Kreuz in Frankfurt-
Bornheim. where worked until June 2019 as a retreat and meditation leader and priestly co-worker. Even after the end of his activity in Bornheim he continues to offer events in the retreat house Hofheim and in cooperation with the Holy Cross – Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality. Schlegel worked also in the diocese's , dedicated to new church music for young people. Schlegel wrote the texts for new spiritual songs (
Neues Geistliches Lied, NGL), first in collaboration with the composer and church musician
Winfried Heurich. Their song "Der Herr wird dich mit seiner Güte segnen" (The Lord will bless you with his goodness), with music by
Thomas Gabriel, was acknowledgeded in a worldwide competition in 1983 as the best entry in German. It was included in the Catholic hymnal
Gotteslob as GL 452. Schlegel wrote around 300 NGL, with melodies also by ,
Joachim Raabe, Rudolf Schäfer and Sieglinde Weigt, among others. '' on 6 November 2016 at the
Limburg Cathedral, conducted by the composer
Peter Reulein He wrote texts for more than 200 hymns, which inspired various composers to write music of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied. Many of the songs appeared in the 2013 Catholic hymnal
Gotteslob, some in the common section, others in the Limburg regional section. They also became part of other hymnals and songbooks, such as
Junges Gotteslob, the hymnal for young people, the 2013 choral songbook
Die Träume hüten (Guarding the dreams), published by
Dehm-Verlag, and the
Freiburger Kinderchorbuch (children's choir book), commissioned by the
Diocese of Freiburg and published by
Carus-Verlag. Schlegel was from 1998 to 2013 the editor of the Franciscan magazines
Wege mit Franziskus and
Franziskaner. From 2013 he has edited, together with Mirjam Schambeck
sf the book series
Franziskanische Akzente in the in
Würzburg. On a commission by the Diocese of Limburg, he wrote the text for an
oratorio with music by
Peter Reulein, ''
Laudato si' – Ein franziskanisches Magnificat, published by the Dehm-Verlag in 2016. He structured the work, based on the Magnificat in Latin, in a prologue and five scenes; he included texts by Francis of Assisi who began the praises of his Canticle of the Sun'' with "Laudato si'",
Clare of Assisi and
Pope Francis who wrote the
encyclical Laudato si'. == Hymns ==