He Spared Himself in Nothing: Essays on the Life and Thought of St. John Nepomucene Neumann, C. Ss. R. (review)

Celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of St. John Nepomucene Neumann's canonization, and the sesquicentennial of his episcopal ordination as Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, St. Joseph's University Press has provided a series of essays on Neumann's life, ministry, and thought. The work aims both to foster a renewed understanding and appreciation of the saintly bishop and, at the same time, to stimulate further research and interest in St. John Neumann. Some of the essays presented here were earlier published in scholarly journals at the time of Neumann's beatification in 1963. An additional number of newly crafted works have been included to both inform and deepen the reader's experience of Bishop Neumann's early growth and development, in addition to providing a tableau of his priestly and rather brief episcopacy.

At the outset a precis of Neumann's life and writings is provided. Here one sees the young John Neumann exposed to the influences of a devout Catholic family in his native Bohemia. Like his fellow citizens, young John seems to have been deeply impressed with the life and times of St. John Nepomuk, patron of Bohemia. Neumann certainly looks up to St. Nepomuk, and the latter may have won the day in steering John Neumann away from a career in medicine.

Seminary preparation for John's chosen career was marked by an atmosphere of two opposing ecclesiologies and theologies. Although Neumann was able to steer clear of the facets of Josephinism, some of his teachers were not, and this became a significant challenge for Neumann. At the same time, he seems to have run afoul of the seminary dean. While it may have been a personality conflict as well as theological differences, it was a cause for disappointment. Moreover, this and other seminary relationships demonstrate Neumann's humanity. Well aware of his human reactions, a delicate conscience played a role in his self-condemnatory regret. Rounding out seminary concerns were the call by German bishops for optional celibacy and a mounting conflict over papal infallibility.

At the end of Neumann's seminary studies, local bishops had too many candidates for ordination. So, we find Neumann ordained in New York and serving in a small country parish, much to his delight. Later he joined the Redemptorists, seeking a community life style. He was noticed by some in the American hierarchy and was eventually appointed Bishop of Philadelphia.

John Neumann's formative years were spent in times not unlike the Church in the third millennium, although, to a seemingly lesser extent, the challenges for our times have been met with the same kind of personal asceticism which Neumann developed from his familiarity with the spiritual treasure of his day, much of which is currently in vogue. The overarching simplicity of Neumann's personal prayer and active ministry proved to be the very foundation of his saintly life. And such was proclaimed at Vatican Council II.

We see his methodology, if you will, in Neumann's willingness to meet both children and adults where they were. As noted in Linck's essay on the Forty Hours devotion, Neumann's determination was not only to bring his people what he was convinced they needed, but also to be in their midst with his priests in a Eucharistic step toward eternal salvation. At the same time, Neumann's Marian devotion was comparable to his contemporaries' insofar as it influenced his spirituality and pastoral leadership.

On balance, He Spared Himself in Nothing, a collection of essays, has some rough sailing. Reading too much into Neumann's devotion to St. Joseph as regards St. Theresa is a concern. Moreover, that Neumann invoked St. Joseph in his final hours could have been supported from sources closer to his demise. Also, there is much repetition throughout, and the...