Seelos delivers his first sermon on the feast of St. Joseph. He quickly becomes a popular preacher, speaking to the everyday spiritual needs of the people in a plain manner. This is not as popular with some members of the Congregation, one of whom calles him a “blockhead.” In true Seelos fashion he takes this […]
Seelos finally hears his first confessions. Although he had faculties to do so for more than two months, he does not think he is ready because of his imperfect knowledge of the English language. Moreover, in a letter home he says that he is not inclined to learn English! However, out of necessity he heard […]
Seelos performs his first baptism – a day BEFORE he had officially been granted the faculties of the archdiocese to do this. Lest we think less of our Blessed Seelos, it is believed that he had received verbal permission from the archbishop to do so.
Seelos is ordained a priest at the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, MD. He celebrates his first Mass as a priest three days later, on Christmas Day. In a letter home, he tells his family of his prayers during that Mass, “I certainly did include all of you in them and recommended you to […]
Exactly a year to the day from his entrance into the novitiate, Seelos professes the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a Redemptorist. Throughout the ceremony he repeatedly prays to Mary, thanking her for her help and asking for her intercession. He says to the Blessed Mother, “I promise not only to love, to […]
Seelos begins his year as a novice at St. James the Less. During a ceremony of investiture, he puts aside his secular clothing and begins wearing the distinctive Redemptorist habit. In a response to the celebrant’s question of what Seelos desires, he responds, “…I most humbly and earnestly beg Your Reverence that, despite my unworthiness […]
Seelos arrives in New York City on Easter Thursday after five weeks of prayer and study, teaching catechism lessons, and visiting the sick on the St. Nicholas.
After dashing off a short letter of farewell to his family 15 minutes before boarding the St. Nicholas, Seelos sets sail from Le Havre, France, bound for missionary life in the United States.
Seelos leaves the seminary in Augsburg with his sights set on Baltimore. It is a sad time for Xavier, as he knows this would be the last time he would see his family and the friends he had made in the seminary. He writes in a letter to his sister, “Love has united us, love […]
On the feast day of St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, Seelos receives notification of his acceptance as a novice from Fr. Alexander Czvitkovicz, the superior of the Redemptorist mission in America. That feast day was ever afterward memorable to him, and he writes several poems in St. Cecilia’s honor.