Bishop · Feast day January 5
St. John Neumann
The feast day of St. John Neumann is January 5, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of Catholic education.
| Feast day | January 5 |
|---|---|
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Bishop |
| Died | 1860 |
| Patron of | Catholic education |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
A shoemaker’s son from Bohemia who came to New York with one suit and little else, was ordained, and worked the frontier parishes around Niagara before joining the Redemptorists. Made bishop of Philadelphia against his protests, he answered with work.
In eight years he built eighty churches and organized the first diocesan school system in America, its classrooms multiplying twentyfold. He spoke eight languages, wore the same old coat, and died on a street corner errand at forty-eight.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. John Neumann as patron of Catholic education.
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. John Neumann. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. John Neumann keeps January 5 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of January.
All the saints of January Born on January 5? A saint for every day
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