Jan. 5, 2012 Thursday: St. John Neumann
St. John Neumann
John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. His parents were Philip and Agnes Neumann. John had four sisters and a brother. After finishing college, he entered the seminary. John was very intelligent and did really well in his studies. He learned to speak eight modern languages fluently, besides Latin, Greek, and Hebrew!
But when it came time for ordination, there was a problem. John could not be ordained because Bohemia had more than enough priests just then! Since he had been reading about missionary activities in the United States, John decided to go to America to be ordained. He walked most of the way to France and then boarded the ship Europa.
John arrived in Manhattan on June 9, 1836. Bishop John Dubois was very happy to see him. There were only thirty-six priests to serve the 200,000 Catholics living in the state of New York and part of New Jersey. Just sixteen days after his arrival, John was ordained a priest and sent to Buffalo, New York. There he would help Father Pax care for his parish, which was 900 square miles in size. “Father John, would you like to work in the city or in a country area?” Father Pax asked him. Now John’s heroic character began to show. “I’d like to work in the country,” John responded. He knew that this was the more difficult area. Father John decided to stay in a little town with an unfinished church. Once it was completed, he moved to another town that had a log-church. There he built himself a small log cabin. The farms in his area were far apart. John had to walk long distances to reach his people. They were German, French, Irish and Scotch. In addition to the languages he already spoke, John now learned English and Gaelic. Before he died, he knew and spoke twelve different languages!
Father John joined the Redemptorist Order and continued his missionary work. He became bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop John Neumann built fifty churches and began building a cathedral. He opened almost one hundred schools. During the time he was bishop, the number of parochial school students grew from 500 to 9,000. Bishop John made sure to visit all his parishes on a regular basis. Once, he even walked twenty-five miles both ways to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to a boy.
Bishop John died suddenly on January 5, 1860. He was walking home from an appointment when he suffered a stroke and fell to the ground. He was carried into the nearest house and died there at 3:00 P.M. Bishop John Neumann would have been forty-nine that March. He was proclaimed a saint by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977.
St. John put his whole self into the work God gave him to do. Instead of looking for an easier life, he chose to do as much as he could and as cheerfully as possible. The little everyday things we must do are the work God gives us. Like St. John Neumann, let’s do them with all our hearts.
- Daughters of St. Paul
John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. His parents were Philip and Agnes Neumann. John had four sisters and a brother. After finishing college, he entered the seminary. John was very intelligent and did really well in his studies. He learned to speak eight modern languages fluently, besides Latin, Greek, and Hebrew!
But when it came time for ordination, there was a problem. John could not be ordained because Bohemia had more than enough priests just then! Since he had been reading about missionary activities in the United States, John decided to go to America to be ordained. He walked most of the way to France and then boarded the ship Europa.
John arrived in Manhattan on June 9, 1836. Bishop John Dubois was very happy to see him. There were only thirty-six priests to serve the 200,000 Catholics living in the state of New York and part of New Jersey. Just sixteen days after his arrival, John was ordained a priest and sent to Buffalo, New York. There he would help Father Pax care for his parish, which was 900 square miles in size. “Father John, would you like to work in the city or in a country area?” Father Pax asked him. Now John’s heroic character began to show. “I’d like to work in the country,” John responded. He knew that this was the more difficult area. Father John decided to stay in a little town with an unfinished church. Once it was completed, he moved to another town that had a log-church. There he built himself a small log cabin. The farms in his area were far apart. John had to walk long distances to reach his people. They were German, French, Irish and Scotch. In addition to the languages he already spoke, John now learned English and Gaelic. Before he died, he knew and spoke twelve different languages!
Father John joined the Redemptorist Order and continued his missionary work. He became bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop John Neumann built fifty churches and began building a cathedral. He opened almost one hundred schools. During the time he was bishop, the number of parochial school students grew from 500 to 9,000. Bishop John made sure to visit all his parishes on a regular basis. Once, he even walked twenty-five miles both ways to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to a boy.
Bishop John died suddenly on January 5, 1860. He was walking home from an appointment when he suffered a stroke and fell to the ground. He was carried into the nearest house and died there at 3:00 P.M. Bishop John Neumann would have been forty-nine that March. He was proclaimed a saint by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977.
St. John put his whole self into the work God gave him to do. Instead of looking for an easier life, he chose to do as much as he could and as cheerfully as possible. The little everyday things we must do are the work God gives us. Like St. John Neumann, let’s do them with all our hearts.
- Daughters of St. Paul
