St. John Neumann was born in 1811, in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. After college, he entered the seminary. When the time came for his ordination, the bishop was sick, the Mass was canceled, and the date was never rescheduled. It turns out that Bohemia had enough priests at the time! Since he had been reading about missionary activities in the United States, St. John decided to go to America and request to be ordained here. He walked most of the way to France and then boarded a ship to New York. He arrived in Manhattan in 1836, where he was gladly welcomed by Bishop John Dubois, who at that time had only 36 priests for the 200,000 Catholics living in the state of New York and part of New Jersey. Just 16 days after his arrival, St. John was ordained a priest and sent to Buffalo.
As a parish priest, St. John established himself in a small log cabin which served as the parish house. He hardly ever lit a fire and often lived on only bread and water. He joined the Redemptorist Order and continued his missionary work until he was elected Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. As Bishop, he built 50 churches, opened nearly 100 schools, and the number of parochial school students grew from 500 to 9,000. He died suddenly on January 5, 1860. He became the first American bishop to be beatified and later canonized.
Let us pray. “O God, who called Saint John Neumann, renowned for his charity and pastoral service, to shepherd your people in America, grant by his intercession that as we foster the Christian education of youth and are strengthened by the witness of fraternal love, we may constantly strengthen the family of your Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you for ever and ever. Amen.”
