Saint John Neumann, Bishop
John Nepomucene Neumann was born in 1811 in Bohemia (Now known as the Czech Republic) to Philip and Agnes Neumann. An excellent student, John early felt drawn to religious life. As a seminarian at Budweis, Bohemia, he studied astronomy and botany, in addition to theology. He studied theology at Charles Ferdinand University at Prague in 1833. When his ordination date arrived, the Bishop was ill and the date was never rescheduled, as Bohemia had an over-abundance of priests at that time. John decided to go to the United States to seek ordination there. He walked most of the way to France, and then took a ship to the United States. He arrived in New York in 1836, and Bishop John Dubois was elated to see him as there were only 36 priests for the 200,000 Catholics in New York and New Jersey. He was ordained on June 28, 1836 by Bishop Dubois at the old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The following week, John was sent to minister to the German speaking immigrants who were cleari...