“He Spared Himself in Nothing”: Essays on the Life and
Thought of St. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R.

Edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S.

The year 2002 marked a double anniversary for one of Philadelphia’s own, St. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R.: the 25th anniversary of his canonization, and the 150th anniversary of his episcopal ordination as fourth bishop of Philadelphia. This volume of essays on Neumann’s intellectual formation, ministry, theology and spirituality commemorates these dual historic occasions. Among the specific topics studied are: Neumann’s student years in Prague, his namesake St. John Nepomuk, his ministry as catechist and bishop, his establishment of the 40 Hours Devotion on a diocesan-wide level, his devotion to Mary and St. Joseph, and the reference to Neumann’s ordinary and practical sanctity in Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. This book hopes to foster a renewed understanding and appreciation of, as well as stimulate further research on, the only male U.S. citizen to be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction
Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S.

Part I
Theological and Spiritual Formation

The Several Lives of St. John Nepomuk, A Patron Saint of Bohemia
Paul Shore

John N. Neumann’s Student Years in Prague, 1833-1835
Augustinus Kurt Huber
(Translated from German by Raymond H. Schmandt)
Reprinted from Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 89 (1978): 3-32.

Building a Foundation of Spirituality: St. John Neumann’s European Years
Richard A. Boever, C.Ss.R.

Part II
Ministry

An Accomplished Catechist: John Nepomucene Neumann
Mary Charles Bryce, O.S.B.
Reprinted from The Living Light 14 (1977): 327-37.

Blessed John Neumann, C.Ss.R., Pastoral Bishop
Michael J. Curley, C.Ss.R.
Reprinted from American Ecclesiastical Review 151 (1964): 167-80.

“The Brightest Jewel in Their Crown”: John Neumann and the Establishment of the Forty Hours Devotion in Philadelphia
Joseph C. Linck

Part III
Theology and Spirituality

“No More Powerful Friend Have We with God”: The Marian Devotion of St. John Neumann
Thomas A. Thompson, S.M.

“St. Teresa says she never failed to receive whatever she asked of you!”: St. Joseph in the Life and Ministry of John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R.
Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S.

The Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965, and Bishop Neumann
Alfred C. Rush, C.Ss.R.
Reprinted from Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 85 (1974): 123-28.

 

2003, 236 pp., 22 images
ISBN: 978-0-916101-44-2 (hardcover) $35.00