John
Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Prachatitz, in the
Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech
Republic. He received the sacrament of Baptism the same day.
He
entered the seminary in 1831 and was ready to be ordained in 1835 when
the bishop temporarily suspended ordinations due to an excess of priests
in the country. As a seminarian, John had been deeply inspired by the
accounts of the missionaries among the German immigrants in North
America, particularly by those of Father Barraga, who later became the
first Bishop of Marquette. At the invitation of Bishop John DuBois of
the diocese of New York, young Neumann sailed to the New World where he
was ordained in what is now the old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York
City.
Until the age of twenty-nine, the young priest dedicated
himself to missionary work in New York. At this time, with the
permission of Bishop DuBois, he joined the Redemptorist Order becoming
its first member to profess religious vows in America.
In
1852 Fr. John Neumann was consecrated the fourth Bishop of
Philadelphia. His ease with languages, of which he would come to know as
many as eight, endeared him to the many immigrants arriving in the
city. He not only tended to immigrants in his native German, but
speaking fluent Italian as well, he personally ministered to Italian
newcomers in his private chapel, and went on to establish the first
ethnic church for Italians in the country. For the Irish, he studied
enough Gaelic to be able to hear the confessions of those who spoke no
English, an act of charity which the Irish government officially
recognized by a posthumous award.
Gifted with great organizing
ability, he drew into the city many teaching communities. He was the
first bishop in the country to organize a diocesan school system, and
during his tenure increased the schools in his diocese from one to one
hundred. His apostolic endeavors encompassed every facet of spiritual
need: schools, catechesis, and apologetics, in short, all that involved
the spiritual guidance of souls, their sacramental nourishment and their
zealous defense against error. He instituted the first Forty Hours
devotion throughout his vast diocese, from whence it was taken up by
others, spreading beyond the confines of the American continent.
Intensely devoted to the Virgin Mother of God, the “little bishop”, as
he was sometimes affectionately referred to, was called upon for a
singular privilege in her honor. On December 8, 1854 when Pope Pius
IX read the declaration defining the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, John Neumann held the book from which the pope read. Thus,
his 5' 2" frame became the podium upon which rested the illustrious
document describing the future patroness of the United States: the
Immaculate Conception.
His efforts to expand Catholicism in
America were not without opposition. On at least two occasions he wrote
to Rome asking to be relieved of his bishopric but Blessed Pius IX
insisted that he continue. And, like the Divine Master he so faithfully
served, he persevered “until all [his] strength was exhausted, until the
insupportable weight of the wood [of the cross] hurled [him] to the
ground”. While running errands on January 5, 1860, Bishop John Neumann
collapsed and died in the streets of Philadelphia from a stroke. He was
forty-eight.
He was beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 13, 1963
and canonized by the same pope on June 19, 1977. His remains rest in
the church of St. Peter the Apostle in Philadelphia where they are
venerated by countless devotees.
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
St. John Neumann
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