Today the Church commemorates one of her saints, Saint John Neumann, a member of the Redemptorist Order founded by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri. This morning I visited the shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, another Redemptorist priest, who served as the parochial vicar of Saint John Neumann at Saint Philomena Parish in Pittsburgh for six years.
Saint John Neumann would eventually be consecrated bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Blessed Francis Xavier would work at various Redemptorist parishes in the United States until reaching New Orleans where he died of the yellow fever in 1867.
Known for his genuine cheerfulness and love for neighbor, Blessed Seelos had a special love for the poor, the sick and the destitute. He was placed in charge of seventy Redeptorist seminarians and at one point met with President Lincoln to express his desire that seminarians not be drafted for military service.
When Pope John Paul II beatified Father Seelos in 2000, he stated in his homily:
“In the various places where he worked, Fr. Francis Xavier brought his enthusiasm, spirit of sacrifice and apostolic zeal. To the abandoned and the lost he preached the message of Jesus Christ, the source of eternal salvation, and in the hours spent in the confessional he convinced many to return to God. Today, Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos invites the members of the Church to deepen their union with Christ in the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. Through his intercession, may all who work in the vineyard for the salvation of God’s people to be encouraged and strengthened in their task.”
Though feeling very ill from the yellow fever which he had contracted, he continued to visit and comfort the sick. The day he took to bed due to his illness, he had visited a fellow man dying of yellow fever. His health continued to decline until he died while two brother priests sang his favorite Marian hymns. He is buried at the Redemptorist church of Saint Mary’s Assumption in New Orleans at the Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Shrine.
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