Fast mover

He was a Bohemian and they wouldn’t ordain him, so John went overseas. When he arrived at his destination, he went to see the local bishop unannounced. The bishop was so desperate (he had only 36 priests to serve 200,000 Catholics) and John presented himself so well that he ordained John a priest 25 days later and assigned him to work alone near the outer boundary of the diocese.

Four years later he left the diocese to join the Redemptorists. Again, he presented himself so well that four years after joining a Redemptorist house, he was running the place and two years after that he was made him the Provincial for the entire country.

Five years later, he was named bishop of one of the country’s largest cities.

He ended up doing very well as bishop, building up the flock as well as many nearly 100 schools and 50 parishes.

Then, eight years after being ordained bishop, on this very day 145 years ago, John Neumann dropped dead at the age of 48 on a snowy street near the new cathedral he had been building in Philadelphia. St. John Neumann, native of Bohemia, was the first male American citizen ever to be canonized, on June 19, 1977.