St. John Neumann

Dear Parishioners,

St. John Neumann C.S.S.R.
Bishop of Philadelphia
1852-1860
Feast Day, January 5

" God grant me Holiness"

John Nepomucene Neumann spent the whole of his adult life striving to live as a total Christian. Nevertheless, no one would have been more shocked than John Neumann at the thought that one day he would be canonized a saint. The possibility never crossed his mind. While his whole consciousness was directed toward serving God in immediate relationship with Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, he was constantly aware of shortcomings in saying his prayers, in faithfulness to the rule of life he had set for himself, and in the accomplishment of his daily duties.

In the journal of his soul, however, there is a preoccupation with infidelity to God's grace, spiritual laziness, and an occasional veiled reference to "the abyss" into which he almost fell. These self-accusations generated considerable difficulty during the examination of his life by the Vatican commissions. So did the letters he wrote to the Holy See as a Bishop, claiming that he was not fully equal to governing the Diocese of Philadelphia. What the Holy See decided was that in both circumstances Neumann was indulging a type of exaggerated conscientiousness. If there were faults in these matters, he was allowing his humility to outdistance his honesty-a weakness on the side of angels.

The paradox raised here involves the basic problem of interior, self-conscious honesty. Considering the weaknesses of human nature, no one with any sensibility would be temped to consider himself or herself a saint-one without faults or failings. But neither does Almighty God nor the Church require "angelicism"-living in this world as one imagines the angels and saints to live in eternity.

On June 19, 1977, Pope Paul VI used his prerogative of infallibility to proclaim solemnly that John Nepomucene Neumann of Prachatitz and Philadelphia is enrolled in the Church's roster of saints and is to be honored on the Church's altars. Though frowned upon by the "mainliners" of the City of Brotherly Love, the little prelate with the slight German accent was welcomed into a society whose worth transcended all worldly values. Henceforth he would be referred to as St. John Neumann.

God bless us all!
Fr. Citino