Today we celebrate the feast of St. John Neumann, a beloved saint who once served in our own Diocese. St. Mary’s Swormville has a special devotion to St. John Neumann as he founded our parish, and we are celebrating the 175th anniversary of our foundation this year. Our school students marked the feast day by venerating relics of this missionary saint.
After school Mass, Principal D'Angelo explained to our students what a “relic” is. A relic can be a body part of a saint such as bone, blood or flesh, a possession that a saint owned, an object that has been touched to something belonging to a saint, or an object that the saint touched him or herself. Relics are items that remind us of saints and invite us to seek their help on our journey of discipleship. St. Mary’s has several St. John Neumann relics. A portion of bone from St. John Neumann was venerated by our students in the reliquary today, but additional relics were placed under the main altar in the new church when it was built in the early 1990’s.
Yesterday our middle school students met with Mr. Ken Hoffmann, St. Mary’s parishioner and Mr. Michael Slish, St. Mary’s Youth Minister, to discuss St. John Neumann and the topic of relics. They also discussed what we must do to be a saint. Students were invited and challenged to listen to God's word in their lives, think about what He is asking them to do, and respond with a generous "yes!" By following St. John Neumann's example in this way, we pray that our school and parish will be home to many more saints in the future.
St. John Neumann’s relics will be on display in the church and available for veneration and private prayer until 7pm this evening. For a more detailed biography of St. John Neumann and a timeline of his involvement with our parish, please see excerpts from the 175th Anniversary Commemorative booklet, produced by members of our parish below. Commemorative booklets are available at the parish office. St. John Neumann pray for us!
John Nepomucene Neumann was born in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic), on March 28, 1811. Upon completing his childhood schooling, he considered becoming a medical doctor, but his mother encouraged him to apply to the seminary. He was accepted and began his seminary studies for the Diocese of Budweis on November 1, 1831, at the age of twenty.
While in the seminary, he was inspired by the letters from priests serving as missionaries in America. When the director of the seminary lectured on St. Paul’s hardships and his great work in bringing Christ to those he met, Neumann resolved to devote his life to the mission in America after completing his studies.
Neumann’s ordination to the priesthood was initially delayed, yet he sailed for America on the Europa and arrived in New York on the feast of Corpus Christi with one set of clothes and one dollar to his name. The Bishop of New York, John Dubois, warmly welcomed him and Neumann was ordained on June 25, 1836.
The bishop sent the young priest to the area near Niagara Falls in northern New York, where his parish covered about a thousand square miles and his parishioners consisted mostly of German farmers and French-Canadian loggers. Neumann travelled to his new assignment by the Erie Canal. In 1839, the “German Catholic Parish on the Transit,” named after the road, began with Rev. John Neumann administering the Holy Sacraments to a few Catholic families. Father Neumann encouraged them to build a log cabin church.
For over four years, he was always on the move traveling on foot often over swampy ground, from station to station, from house to house, in the biting cold of winter and the heat of summer, teaching the children, visiting the sick, aiding the dying, and baptizing newborns. Neumann’s workload was heavy, particularly considering the considerable distances to be traversed on foot, with a heavy pack on his back containing his vestments. He was tireless and his humble, warm and thoughtful personality made an impression on many.
Exhausted by his pastoral work, he entered the Redemptorist Order in 1840 and was appointed the first General Superior of the order’s ten foundations in America in 1847.
In 1852 he became the fourth bishop of Philadelphia where he continued to work tirelessly, establishing the diocesan school system, promoting the 40 hours devotion, and building many schools and churches.