Indeed Seelos might have viewed his hemorrhage as a blessing, as his weakened constitution lead to assignment as superior, pastor and novice master of St. Mary’s in Annapolis, Maryland. The community is large, but the pressure of work is minimal compared to that of St. Alphonsus parish. He says in a letter to his friend, Fr. Joseph Wissel, “What luck and grace! O happy sickness that needed and obtained such a cure!”
Coming out of the confessional just before supper, as he stretches himself to get rid of the stiffness in his arms and legs, blood suddenly begins pouring out of Seelos’ mouth. He has suffered a violent hemorrhage and is hospitalized for 4 weeks. In true Seelos fashion, he says in a letter to his sister, Sr. Damiana, “You can see from this how fortunate I feel in this sickness, and how I truly consider it as one of the greatest gifts of grace from the Lord.”
Seelos is appointed pastor and rector of St. Alphonsus Parish in Baltimore, Maryland. Moving from St. Philomena to St. Alphonsus was like going from a peaceful village to a bustling metropolis. His appointment includes not only St. Alphonsus, but two parish centers, two smaller parishes on the outskirts of Baltimore, and four mission stations outside the city. In addition, Seelos saw to the spiritual needs of 1,300 children in schools and 500 black Catholics. Despite the exponential increase in workload, he always took upon himself more than his weak constitution could carry and never succumbed. | Shown above, St. Alphonsus Church.
Seelos is granted his naturalization papers, becoming a U.S. citizen. | Shown above, Seelos’ Declaration of Intent for U.S. Citizenship, c. 1848.
Twelve Redemptorists arrive in New York after a tempestuous sixty-two day trip trip across the Atlantic. They begin to preach a parish mission at St. Joseph’s Church, where they hear an estimated 6,000 confessions and give first holy Communion to 60 adults and 400 children. This is the first organized English mission in the country; it sparks a parish-mission movement that spreads across America, including St. Philomena parish where Seelos stood at the helm.
No one is more surprised than Seelos when he is chosen as pastor and rector of St. Philomena’s Parish. At thirty-two, he was years younger than the fathers and brothers he was asked to lead. But this disparity of age doesn’t seem to intimidate him in being faithful to his duties as a rector. His simple acts of kindness and love for the poor and sick of the area have been handed down among parishioners for many years after his departure. They consider his prayers as very powerful with God, due to several cures of the sick. | Shown above, Redemptorist community bell and altar stone from St. Philomena’s Church, on display at the Seelos Shrine in New Orleans.
According to rule, Redemptorists are required to make a ten-day retreat each year. Seelos makes his annual retreat in total silence and seclusion, in which he writes daily summaries of his prayers, meditations and examinations of conscience. His notes speak loudly about his burning desire to become holy. During this time, Seelos makes a radical commitment to achieve the holiness he desires. But for all his efforts, even Blessed Seelos could not completely overcome “the repugnance of nature,” as he calls it. On the fourth day of his retreat, he writes, “O help! O help! O holy Mother of God, let me become so inflamed and sanctified that I am not always thinking of breakfast.”
At twenty-eight years old and just three years after taking his own vows, Seelos is appointed novice master at St. Philomena’s. His appointment was short-lived – a mere 16 months – because the Superior of the American Mission decided that the novices should be under his watchful eye in Baltimore. But even though his stint as novice master was brief, Seelos had a lifelong effect on the novices entrusted to him, leading them by example and with gentle compassion.
Fr. Neumann introduces Seelos to mission preaching at St. Vincent’s Church in Youngstown, Pennsylvania. In Seelos’ later years, mission preaching would become his full-time ministry.
Seelos is assigned to St. Philomena parish in Pittsburgh as assistant pastor, under the guidance of Fr. John Neumann, who would eventually become St. John Neumann. Seelos says of Neumann, “He loved me as his own son. Above all, the example of his virtuous life is always before my eyes – his constant modesty, his great humility, and his all-conquering long-suffering.” | Shown above, a photo of St. John Neumann.