Meanwhile in America, after struggling for several years to establish a community in the States, Redemptorist superior Joseph Prost nearly calls it quits, for by that point there was nothing else to do but chalk it up as a noble, but failed experiment. And then, a German-born immigrant told Fr. Prost of several thousand German-speaking Catholics in Pittsburgh who were without a priest. Fr. Prost immediately requested an invitation from the bishop of Philadelphia and received it on April 7, 1839. The next day, he packed up all his belongings in three small trunks and made his way to Pittsburgh to form what would become St. Philomenia Church, where in 6 short years Seelos would become assistant pastor. | Shown above, illustration of St. Philomena Church c. 1859.