John’s father was German and his mother Czech. He was the third of six children, born in Bohemia now part of the Czech Republic. He did very well in school with a special talent for languages. He was due to be ordained in 1835 but the local bishop at the time felt he had enough of priests and cancelled the ordinations for that year. This was the spur for John to put his missionary dreams into action.

He sailed for the United States where he was ordained by the bishop of New York the following year. He worked tirelessly for four years in the Buffalo-Rochester area but after four years felt isolated. He felt the need for a community and so he joined the Redemptorists. The fact that he spoke 8 languages made him an ideal preacher among immigrant communities.

He became an American citizen and later became a bishop. As bishop his motto was: “Passion of Christ, strengthen me”. He built schools, churches, completed a cathedral, introduced new devotions and founded a congregation of sisters to look after over crowded schools. It seems certain that he eventually did too much, burnt himself out and collapsed on a street. He died on this day (Jan 5th) back in 1860 at the age of 48. He was buried in the Redemptorist church of St.Peter in Philadelphia which has become known as the ‘National Shrine of St.John Neumann”. He was canonized a saint in 1977.


Today we ask his many blessings on us. Amen