Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

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Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
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Birth and Baptism

• Seelos was born on January 11, 1819 in Fussen,
  Bavaria, Germany.
• He was baptized on the same day in the parish
  church of St. Mang.

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Seminarian

• Having expressed a desire for the priesthood
  since childhood, he entered the diocesan seminary
  in 1842 after having completed his studies in
  philosophy. He was 23 years old.

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RedemptoristsCongregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer

• Soon after meeting the missionaries of the
  Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
  (Redemptorists), founded for the evangelization
  of the most abandoned, he decided to enter the
  Congregation.

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German Immigrant

• He wanted to minister to the German speaking
  immigrants in the United States.
• He was accepted by the Redemptorist Congregation
  on November 22, 1842.
• He sailed the following year from
• Le Havre, France
• arriving in New York on April 20, 1843.

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LeHarve, France, New York, U.S.A.
Le Havre
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Ordained

• On December 22, 1844, after having completed his
  novitiate and theological studies, Seelos was
  ordained a priest in the Redemptorist Church of
  St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

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St. Philomena Pastor 1850-1853

• After being ordained, he worked for nine years
  (1844-1853) in the parish of St. Philomena in
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first as assistant
  pastor with St. John Neumann, the superior of the
  Religious Community, and later as Superior
  himself and for the last three years as pastor.

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Seelos and St. Neumann

• During this time, he was also the Redemptorist
  Novice Master. With St.John Neumann he dedicated
  himself to preaching missions.
• Regarding their relationship, Seelos said He
  has introduced me to the active life and, he
  has guided me as a spiritual director and
  confessor.

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Seelos and Neumann

• Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

• St John Neumann

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Confessor

• His availability and innate kindness in
  understanding and responding to the needs of the
  faithful, quickly made him well known as an
  expert confessor and spiritual director, so much
  so that people came to him even from neighboring
  towns.

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Redemptorist

• Faithful to the Redemptorist charism, he
  practiced a simple lifestyle and a simple manner
  of expressing himself.

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Preacher

• The themes of his preaching, rich in biblical
  content, were always heard and understood even by
  everyone, regardless of education, culture, or
  background.

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Seelos' Practical Guide to Holiness

• 1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion.
• 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main
  failing make resolutions to avoid it.
• 3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15
  minutes, if a half hour is not possible.
• 4. Say the rosary every day.
• 5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the
  Blessed Sacrament and toward evening, meditate
  on the Passion of Christ for a half hour.

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Seelos' Practical Guide to Holiness

• 6. Conclude the day with evening prayer an
  examination of conscience over all the faults
  sins of the day.
• 7. Every month make a review of the month in
  confession.
• 8. Choose a special patron every month imitate
  that patron in some special virtue.
• 9. Precede every great feast with a novena, that
  is, nine days of devotion.
• 10. Try to begin end every activity with a
  Hail Mary. 

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Instructor

• A constant endeavor in this pastoral activity was
  instructing the little children in the faith. He
  not only favored this ministry, he held it as
  fundamental for the growth of the Christian
  community in the parish.

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1854, 1857, 1862

• He was transferred from Pennsylvania to Maryland
  Baltimore in 1854,
• then Cumberland in 1857,
• and to Annapolis in 1862.
• He engaged in parish ministry and served in the
  formation of future Redemptorists a Prefect of
  Students.

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Pastor

• Even in this post, he was true to his character
  remaining always the kind and happy pastor,
  prudently attentive to the needs of his students
  and conscientious of their doctrinal formation.

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Teacher

• Above all, he strove to instill in these future
  Redemptorist missionaries the enthusiasm, the
  spirit of sacrifice and apostolic zeal for the
  spiritual and temporal welfare of the people.

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Bishop of Pittsburgh

• In 1860 while assigned to a parish in Cumberland,
  Maryland, he was proposed as a candidate for the
  office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. He asked to be
  excused!

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Itinerant Missionary

• Having been excused from this responsibility by
  Pope Pius IX, from 1863 until 1866 he dedicated
  himself to the life of an itinerant missionary.

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Itinerant Missionary

• Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
• began preaching in English and German
• in the states of
• Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan,
• Missouri, New Jersey, New York,
• Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
• and Wisconsin.

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Connecticut
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Illinois
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Michigan
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Missouri
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New Jersey
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New York
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Ohio
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Pennsylvania
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Rhode Island
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Wisconsin
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New Orleans, Louisiana

• After a brief period of parish ministry in
  Detroit, Michigan, he was assigned in 1866 to the
  Redemptorist community in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Church of St.Mary of the Assumption

• Here also, as pastor of the Church of St. Mary of
  the Assumption, he was known as a pastor who was
  joyously available to his faithful and singularly
  concerned for the poorest and the most abandoned.

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September 1867

• In Gods plan, however, his ministry in New
  Orleans was destined to be brief. In the month of
  September, exhausted from visiting and caring for
  the victims of yellow fever, he contracted the
  dreaded disease.

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October 4, 1867

• After several weeks of patiently enduring his
  illness, he passed on to eternal life on October
  4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months.

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Blessed

• His Holiness Pope John Paul II, proclaimed Father
  Seelos Blessed in St. Peter's Square on April 9th
  of the Solemn Jubilee Year 2000.  His Feast Day
  is October 5.

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Blessed Tapestry

• The artist commissioned by the Redemptorists for
  the official Seelos portrait was Giuseppe Antonio
  Lomuscio of Italy.
• The original oil painting and the tapestry are
  housed at the National Shrine of Blessed Francis
  Xavier Seelos in St. Mary's Assumption Church,
  New Orleans, LA. 

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