News - January 2011 RSS Feed

In honor of the Neumann Year, celebrating the 200th birthday of this great saint, the Redemptorist-run San Alfonso Retreat House in Long Branch, NJ, has chosen St. John Neumann as the patron of their retreat year.

Delegates to the Province Chapter this week elected members of the Extraordinary Provincial Council (EPC). Together with the Provincial, Vicar Provincial and Consultor, they will guide the Baltimore Province through the next four years.

As the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province gather this week at our retreat house in New Jersey for our Provincial Chapter, please join us in praying for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as we make decisions about our life and ministry.

From Baltimore Provincial Patrick Woods, C.Ss.R. (View this statement as a PDF) The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province have been serving at St. Michael the Archangel Parish since 1852. What started as a primarily German-speaking community eventually became an English-speaking parish, and more recently has attracted a large Hispanic community.

Eight young men discerning a call to the religious life participated in a vocations retreat last weekend at the Shrine of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia. In addition to talks, a tour of (snowy) historic Philadelphia, and time to just hang out, the retreatants had the special privilege of praying before the remains of St. John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia and the first Redemptorist to profess vows in the United States.

Redemptorists of the Vice Province of Richmond elected their new leadership team this week. Very Rev. Jerome Chavarria was re-elected vice provincial superior. Rev. Peter Sousa was elected vice provincial vicar and Rev.

Jacky Merilan is a Redemptorist student stationed at the Redemptorist Mission House in the Bronx, NY, and studying at St. John’s University. He is a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His parents and several other family members lost their homes in the January 12, 2010 earthquake that leveled the city.

Celebrate the Neumann Year in 2011 with a pilgrimage to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Visit St. John Neumann’s hometown, and see where he studied for the priesthood before leaving for the missions in the United States.

Here at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Bethpage, NY, where I’m stationed, we have a very active religious education program. Classes are held on Sunday mornings, and in the evenings on Mondays and Tuesdays.

For two weeks this month — January 17-28 — Redemptorists from the Baltimore Province will gather at San Alfonso Retreat House in Long Branch, NJ, for a chapter meeting. A chapter is held every four years.

Before Parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes in Seaford, DE, will celebrate the dedication of their new worship space January 16 with Wilmington Bishop Francis Malooly. The small, country church was originally consecrated in 1949.

A standing-room only crowd packed the Shrine of St. John Neumann Wednesday as Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali and the Redemptorists celebrated the feast of St. John Neumann and the start of the Neumann Year.

Happy Neumann Year! Today the Redemptorists celebrate the feast of one of our brothers and great saints, John Neumann. Known to many as the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, the father of the parish school system in the United States, and the first male American saint, John Neumann was these things and so much more.

Every year on January 5, the Church in the United States celebrates the feast of St. John Neumann, the first male American saint, a Redemptorist, and the fourth bishop of Philadelphia. This year’s celebrations, however, will be particularly festive as the Redemptorists open the Neumann Year, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of this great saint.