December Saint - St. John Neumann, C.Ss.R.

     Missionary and 4th bishop of Philadelphia. Founded the first diocesan Catholic school system in U.S.
     St. John Neumann learned pretty quickly what it meant to follow God's will with your whole heart and soul. He was certain that he was called to be a priest, but when the time came for ordination, the bishop fell ill and the ordination was cancelled. It was never rescheduled, because there was an over-abundance of priests in Europe. Knowing he was meant to be a priest, John traveled all the way from Bohemia to New York City to be ordained. He was one of only 36 priests, serving 200,000 Catholics: his 'parish' stretched from Lake Ontario throughout Pennsylvania. He became the founder of the first diocesan Catholic School system, going from only two schools to one hundred schools in his diocese.To learn more: http://www.stjohnneumann.org/life.html

(From: http://usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/saints-for-the-year-of-faith.cfm)