From infancy until his ninth year, Seelos was constantly sick and not expected to live beyond his childhood. During this time, his mother tried to prepare him for heaven by admonishing him to be patient and telling him beautiful stories of the saints. His sister Antonia said, “He was always so amiable and tranquil that we loved him most of all.” This thoroughly Catholic atmosphere implanted in the soul of young Xavier the seeds of an all-pervasive spiritual outlook on life. | Shown above, Fr. Seelos’s childhood home in Füssen where he and all of his siblings were born. A plaque denotes the significance of the building.