Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
Priest
- Feast Day
- October 5
- Life
- 1819–1867
- Order
- Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists)
- Born
- Füssen, Bavaria
Franz Xaver Seelos was born at Füssen in Bavaria on 11 January 1819. After studies at the University of Munich he joined the Redemptorists, sailed for the German immigrant missions in the United States in 1843, and was ordained priest at Baltimore on 22 December 1844. From 1845 to 1854 he served at Saint Philomena's parish in Pittsburgh, where his pastor and superior was the future Saint John Neumann.
Subsequent assignments took him to Baltimore, Cumberland and Annapolis (Maryland), Detroit, and finally to New Orleans in 1866, where he was appointed pastor of the Redemptorist parish of Saint Mary's Assumption serving German-speaking immigrants. The yellow fever epidemic of 1867 swept the city; ministering to the sick, he contracted the disease and died at the rectory on 4 October 1867 at the age of forty-eight.
His reputation as a confessor, spiritual director, and gentle pastor was widespread; he was sometimes called the Cheerful Ascetic. Pope Saint John Paul II beatified him on 9 April 2000. He has an Optional Memorial in the United States on 5 October.
Blessed Seelos's witness exemplifies the missionary work of nineteenth-century immigrant priests in the United States, ministering through epidemic, displacement and frontier hardship. His shrine at Saint Mary's Assumption in New Orleans continues to draw pilgrims praying for his intercession.
Catholic Churches Named After Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
4 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos — Biloxi, MS
- Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos — New Orleans, LA
- Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos — Spanish Fort, AL
- Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Catholic Church — Biloxi, MS
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