By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – As efforts continue toward possible sainthood for Father Nelson Baker, Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the canonization of Saint John Neumann -- who also served Western New York Catholics.
Saint John Neumann was born in Bohemia. He was part German, part Czech. John Neumann attended a seminary in 1831, but because there were so many priests in his home land he was sent to the U.S. where there was a greater need for priests. He arrived in New York in 1836 and was ordained.
At the age of 25, Father Neumann began his journey to Buffalo. Although he only served in the region about four years, Father Neumann left his mark as a missionary serving many immigrant Catholics. Sister Mary Francis Gangloff, a local nun and book author, has studied his life. She traces his arrival to this region.
"He traveled by the Erie Canal to downtown Buffalo to what is now St. Louis church," Sr. Gangloff said. "At that time, there were just two places in Western New York where there were settlements of Catholics looking for priests. That was downtown and Williamsville. He chose St. Peter and Paul in Williamsville."
Bernard Thomann, a deacon with St. John the Baptist Church in Kenmore, says Father Neumann faced some opposition when he arrived at the Williamsville parish on Main Street.
"For what ever reason people didn't want him there," Thomann explained. "They were building the church and they threw stones at him over the wall. He decided it wasn't the place for him to be so he came her to North Bush (now Kenmore) and he lived in a log cabin he built near the log chapel."
Sr. Gangloff says some of the controversy Father Neumann faced stemmed from competition between immigrants who settled in the region. While working in Williamsville, Father Neumann lived in a room at the Eagle Inn -- now known as the Eagle House Restaurant on Main Street. Deacon Thomann says even in the 1800s gossip circulated about the priest.
"There was a lot of talk because there wasn't a rectory for him to live. So he stayed in a tavern keepers home, over the tavern," Thomann continued. "In order to get to his room he had to go through the tavern keeper's daughter's room. There were a lot of rumors flying around about him. So that's probably the main reason why he left Williamsville and came here."
Father Neumann then established St. John the Baptist parish on Englewood in Kenmore. He built a small log chapel at that location. Today, in it's place stands a stone chapel. It is now the St. John Neumann Shrine. There's a small museum with a number of artifacts. Thomann says as a missionary priest Neumann used the log chapel as his home, then traveled, by foot, across the region to serve other Catholics.
"He would walk from here to Niagara Falls to St. Mary's. He would walk to Pendleton, to Good Shepherd, then to Transit road in Swormsville to St. Mary's. He would walk up to Lancaster to St. Mary's on the Hill, out to Sheldon to St. Celia's, to St. John's in Eden and make this big round trip."
Sr. Gangloff reads from a letter that Father Neumann wrote to his parents while he was in Western New York describing the beauty of the region and the ever changing weather.
"'Dearest parents, during favorable, weather I can hear Niagara Falls, just like a heavy hail storm. There are lots of trees. Sugar Maples, Beach, Oak and Linden trees are the among the most common. Enclosed you will find a sugar maple leaf...the weather here is very unsteady, seldom here does rain or fair weather, heat or cold, last more than a few days.'"
By 1840, Father Neumann moved to Philadelphia, where he later served as Bishop. He is credited for the creation of the first U.S. Catholic School system and is considered the founder of the Sisters of St. Francis. Bishop Neumann also established the "Forty Hours Devotion" -- allowing Catholics time to pray to what they call the Blessed Sacrament -- symbols of the body and blood of Christ.
It wasn't until after his death in 1860 that two miracles were recorded. First a blind woman prayed at Bishop Neumann's tomb and regained her site, then a man critically injured in a car accident in 1949, and near death, fully recovered.
"His parents took a piece of one of John Neumann's worn cassock's, as a cloth relic and placed it on his bed. He did recover and remarkably so," Sr. Gangloff said. "And after the church investigated this they did claim it one of the official miracles attributed to Blessed John Neumann."
In 1963, the Vatican beatified Bishop Neumann -- another step closer to sainthood. Then one final miracle occurred. A man was cured from cancer after his parents brought him to the Neumann Shrine in Philadelphia.
On June 19, 1977, he was canonized as Saint John Neumann. Deacon Thomann attended with over 200 Western New Yorkers.
"St. Peter's Square in Rome was full," he said. "People were packed, and up on the steps at the entrance of St. Peter's, where the altar was set up, was where all the cardinals and bishops sat. And I remember it was an extremely hot day."
Thomann says St. John Neumann is a real image to follow because he was a dedicated man.
Sr. Fran says it is interesting to note that just as St. John Neumann served as a priest dedicated to helping Western New Yorkers, so did Father Nelson Baker.