During his seminary days, John read with great interest the quarterly reports of the Missionary Society of St. Leopold containing accounts of the pioneering work being done in the United States. On February 8, 1836, he left his native home and started the trip across Europe on foot. Several months later, he set sail for New York aboard a three-masted sailing ship loaded to capacity with emigrants. Six weeks later, the ship entered the harbor of New York.

A few days after arriving in New York, John Neumann sought out and met the bishop, John Dubois. Bishop Dubois had only 36 priests to care for 200,000 Catholics living in all of New York State and half of lower New Jersey. In June of 1836, the bishop ordained John Neumann as a sub-deacon, a deacon, and as a priest, all within one week’s time. The following week he was pastor of the whole Niagara Frontier, some one hundred square miles of swampy primeval forest.

Father John Neumann devoted himself to the pastoral care of all the outlying areas in his parish for four years. From his headquarters near Buffalo, he made frequent journeys on foot in all kinds of weather to points ten or twenty miles away, visiting the settlers on their scattered farms. Many German immigrants had settled this sector of the diocese and were in danger of losing the Faith. He built churches, raised log schools where possible and even taught school himself to the German and Irish children in the area.

Father Neumann's strenuous work and pace soon took a toll and his health began to suffer. He decided to join the Redemptorists Missionary Order and was the first person to make his religious profession as a Redemptorist in America in 1842 at the Church of St. James in Baltimore. Before his elevation to Bishop of Philadelphia at the age of 41, he served as rector of St. Philomena Church in Pittsburgh, and St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore, as well as vice-provincial of the Redemptorists Missionary Order in America. He was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia by Archbishop Francis Kenrick at St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore in 1852.

At that time, the Diocese of Philadelphia was the largest Diocese in America, comprising eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and all of Delaware. Bishop Neumann was the first Bishop in the United States to introduce the Forty Hours Devotion in his diocese. He actively promoted the establishment of parochial schools and increased the number of schools in his Diocese from two schools in 1852, to nearly one hundred by 1860. Through his work with parochial schools, he helped the Notre Dame Sisters of Munich become firmly established in the United States. He may also lay claim to being founder of a religious order for women, the Third Order of St. Francis of Glen Riddle, whose Rule he drafted in 1855 after returning from Rome for the solemn promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Though Bishop Neumann had suffered from frequent illnesses, his sudden death by stroke on January 5, 1860 at the age of 48, was completely unexpected.

The cause of his beatification was begun in 1886. Ten years later, he received the title of Venerable. In February, 1963, Pope John XXIII issued the proclamation for his Beatification, but the ceremony was delayed by the death of Pope John. Pope Paul VI Beatified him on October 13th. His Canonization followed in June of 1977.

Prayer to Saint John Neumann:
O Saint John Neumann, your ardent desire of bringing all souls to Christ impelled you to leave home and country; teach us to live worthily in the spirit of our Baptism which makes us all children of the one Heavenly Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the first-born of the family of God.

Obtain for us that complete dedication in the service of the needy, the weak, the afflicted and the abandoned which so characterized your life. Help us to walk perseveringly in the difficult and, at times, painful paths of duty, strengthened by the Body and Blood of our Redeemer and under the watchful protection of Mary our Mother.

May death still find us on the sure road to our Father's House with the light of living Faith in our hearts. Amen.

National Shrine to Saint John Neumann:
The National Shrine is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Shrine includes his remains which, remarkably well preserved after a century of interment, were exhumed and placed in a glass encasement beneath the altar in the church.

Almost immediately after his death, devout souls were drawn to his grave. More than a few claiming extraordinary miracles of grace though his intercession. It was as though John Neumann, now dead, continued his works of mercy among his people. For decades this unsolicited devotion continued. Finally after many years and many incontrovertible miracles worked through the intercession of this holy man, he was Canonized a Saint in 1977.

Now pilgrims come from all over the world. From his native Bohemia, from Germany and Holland they come to claim allegiance to one of their own. Pope John Paul II made a point to visit the Shrine when he came to Philadelphia to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Various Irish Societies of Philadelphia have made formal pilgrimages to the tomb of this humble man of God who, as bishop, did so much for their immigrant forebears in the 1850's -- this "foreigner" who went to the trouble of studying enough Irish to be able to hear the confessions of those who "had no English," in the coal regions of nineteenth century Pennsylvania.

Those of Italian extraction remember Bishop Neumann as the founder of the first national parish for Italians in the United States. At a time when there was no priest to speak their language, no one to care for them, Bishop Neumann, who had studied Italian as a seminarian in Bohemia, gathered them together in his private chapel and preached to them in their native tongue. In 1855 he Purchased a Methodist Church in South Philadelphia, dedicated it to St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, and provided one of his seminary professors, to be the pastor.

"Among the shepherds of the flock in Philadelphia," wrote the late Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the diocese, "the figure of Venerable John Neumann is pre-eminent. It was mainly through his prodigious efforts that a Catholic school system came into being and that parochial schools began to rise across the land. His holy life, his childlike gentleness, his hard labor and his tremendous foresight is still fresh and green among you. The tree planted and watered by Bishop Neumann now gives you its fruit."

Link to National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia, PA