The newly-ordained Fr. Neumann traveled on foot or horseback to serve the faithful in the farthest reaches of the diocese.“Only a poor priest,” he wrote, “one who can endure hardship, can labor here.”
Welcome to "North American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls, saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
“Lord, give me holiness.”
So spoke St. John Neumann (feast day: Jan. 5) during his First Mass after being ordained a Catholic priest in 1836.
The fourth bishop of the diocese of Philadelphia, St. John Neumann was renowned as a tireless worker and evangelizer. He built 80 churches and was the first to organize a Catholic diocesan school system.
Saint John Neumann is the first American bishop and the first male U.S. citizen to be canonized. He’s often confused with his English counterpart, St. John Henry Newman. Saint John’s surname, of Slavic origin, is pronounced “Noy-muhn.”
Bohemia upbringing
Saint John Neumann was born on Mar. 28, 1811 in Prachatice, Bohemia (today’s Czech Republic). He was baptized John Nepomucene, after Bohemia’s recognized saint of protection.
The third of six children, John knew he wanted to be a priest from an early age. His mother was a strong influence upon her children’s faith. She regularly took them to Mass, and they witnessed her devotion, words, and actions.
As a young student, John loved astronomy, botany, and reading, and in secondary school began studying philosophy. He spoke at least eight different languages fluently in addition to mastering Greek, Latin, and Hebrew!
Too many priests
Upon completion of his studies for ordination at the University of Prague, his bishop informed the class that no ordinations would take place as Bohemia already had too many priests. Imagine that!
Determined this would not derail his becoming a priest, John wrote to the bishops in the United States asking if he could be of use to them and ordained there. He knew there was a shortage of priests in the U.S., particularly serving the immigrant population.
Bishop John Dubois of New York readily accepted John, who arrived on U.S. soil for the first time on Jun. 2, 1836, with only a dollar to his name. Ordained three weeks later, Fr. John became a parish priest in Buffalo, New York, where he began to aid German immigrants. He threw himself into his mission, traveling on foot or horseback to serve the faithful in the farthest reaches of the diocese.
“Only a poor priest,” he wrote, “one who can endure hardship, can labor here.”
Service to immigrants
Four years later, Fr. John sought entrance to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists), and became the first Redemptorist professed in America. He continued his service to German immigrants in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, became a U.S. citizen in 1848, and was named Superior of the Redemptorists in the U.S. six years after joining them.
During his first three years as Superior while in Pittsburgh, Fr. John built St. Philomena’s Church. It is there that he met future saint, Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos, and the two preached missions together. Father Seelos said that Fr. John “introduced me to the active life” and “guided me as spiritual director and confessor.”
Bishop of Philadelphia
On Mar. 28, 1852, Pope Pius IX consecrated Fr. John as the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. Bishop John increased the number of parochial schools from two, at the time of his ordination, to 200. He brought the School Sisters of Notre Dame to America to become teachers in these schools and to work in an orphanage.
Bishop Neumann was the first American Bishop also to introduce the Forty Hours Devotion (40 hours of continuous prayer before the Blessed Sacrament). “The Eucharistic Sacrifice was the center of his life,” said Pope St. Paul VI at his Mass of Canonization. “With great effectiveness, through the Forty Hours Devotion he helped his parishes become communities of faith and service.”
Bishop Neumann wrote many Catholic newspaper and magazine articles, two catechisms, a bible history in German, and many pastoral letters. He was also a friend to the African-American Oblate Sisters in Baltimore, whose order he aided from being dissolved.
Because Bishop Neumann spoke with an accent and resembled a working man, he was criticized. He was also forced to contend with the political group, the Know Nothings, bent on depriving Catholics and immigrants of their civil rights. Stopping at nothing, the Know Nothings burnt down schools and convents.
Discouraged, Bishop Neumann wrote to Bl. Pope Pius IX asking to be relieved of his bishopric, but the Holy Father insisted he persevere.
Interestingly, in 1854, Bishop Neumann traveled to Rome and was present on December 8 when Pius IX solemnly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Celebration of holiness
Despite his declining health, Bishop Neumann never stopped working. He died from a heart attack on Jan. 5, 1860, while walking down a Philadelphia street, at age 48. His tomb lies at The National Shrine of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia.
Saint John Neumann’s canonization was a “celebration of holiness,” said Pope Paul. This “holiness,” he continued, is “human love raised up to its highest level in Christ, in God.”
Saint Faustina reflected on this same love, saying:
As long as we live, the love of God grows in us. Until we die, we ought to strive for the love of God. I have learned and experienced that souls living in love are distinguished in this: that they are greatly enlightened concerning the things of God, both in their own souls and in the souls of others (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1191.)
Continued Pope St. Paul:
True Christianity — we repeat is the sacrifice of self for others … it is shown by signs; it is manifested in deeds. Christianity is sensitive to the suffering and oppression and sorrow of others, to poverty, to all human needs, the first of which is truth. [Saint John Neumann] was close to the sick; he was at home with the poor; he was a friend to sinners. And today he is the honor of all immigrants, and from the viewpoint of the Beatitudes the symbol of Christian success.
While visiting the tomb in Philadelphia in 1979, Pope St. John Paul II recalled St. John's words spoken since his youth: “Jesus, for You I want to live; for You I want to die; I want to be all Yours in life; I want to be all Yours in death."
By your prayers and example, St. John Neumann, we ask your intercession to guide us in right choices, in truth, and in our service to neighbor.
Saint John Neumann, pray for us!
Next in the series: St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, January 12.
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