Blessed Father Peter Donders, Redemptorist
by VP
Posted on Monday January 05, 2026 at 11:00PM in Saints
Source: Wikipedia
"We must pray and do penance and hope in God and His Holy Mother; for
the saints say: From the day on which Christ died souls must be bought
by blood. If only, by sacrificing my own life, I could bring all people
to know and love God as He deserves. But let God's holy will be done in
all things." - Blessed Peter Donders (1809 - 1887) Quotes of the Day
"Born October 27, 1809, at Tilburg in North Brabant, was obliged to spend his boyhood in privation and self-denial. From his very early years his heart was drawn toward the priesthood. But three considerable obstacles stood in the way; viz., his parents were very poor, he had poor health, and possessed but little talent. So much the greater, therefore, were Peter's piety, his purity of morals, and his confidence in God. To help his parents he learned the weaver's trade. When he was twenty-two he was received into the boys' seminary at St. Michiels-Gastel as a servant, with permission to avail himself of whatever instruction he could get. It was no small humiliation for a student who was so much older than his fellows to be almost last in everything; but his strong will and his confidence in prayer won him the victory over all difficulties. Twice he asked admission into a religious body and was each time refused. After six years he was admitted into the priests' seminary.
Some years after his ordination to the priesthood his desire to work as a missionary in foreign lands was gratified. On September 2, 1842, he landed at Paramaribo, capital of Dutch Guiana, which mission was then in the care of Dutch secular priests. Great patience and self-sacrifice was required to protect the 4000 Catholics scattered throughout the colony from the dangers which threatened their faith and morals in consequence of their heathen environment and the enervating climate. Donders paid special attention to the young, rightly foreseeing that it is easier to protect them from vice than to reclaim them when once in its power. When yellow fever raged at Paramaribo in 1851, he won the admiration of the whole colony by his heroism, in caring for both the spiritual and the corporal welfare of the sick, nearly falling a victim of his vocation.
Batavia, a remote place in the colony, had been set apart by the government for the residence of lepers. In 1856 Donders undertook the pastoral care of this difficult post, and persevered here for thirty years, shirking no sacrifice to be all things to his poor flock and to win all to Christ. When the mission of Dutch Guiana was adopted by the Redemptorists in 1865, Donders asked to be received into the Congregation. What was denied to the young petitioner thirty years before was gladly granted to the deserving and saintly missionary. After a year of noviceship at Paramaribo he took up again his post at Batavia.
“There was never a prince, perhaps," we read in a sketch of his life, “who, crowned with fame and splendid success, entered his capital in triumph after his victories and found so great an overflow of joy and happiness as did Donders when, surrounded by his beloved lepers, he again directed his steps to his poor little church.”
He went forth to his work with renewed courage and energy. At last, seventy-seven years of age, he laid down his arms to receive, on January 6, 1887, the reward of his holy and mortified life."
Source: The Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century: Saintly Men and Women by Fr. Konstantin Kempf 1916
Saint John Neumann, Bishop (1811-1860)
by VP
Posted on Monday January 05, 2026 at 09:17AM in Saints
St. John Newmann, Holy Name Cathedral Raleigh NC. (©CAPG)
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy (by St. John Neumann)
Guard the kingdom of the Christ-loving
(Pope N), our chief bishop. Pray for the people , intercede for the
clergy, protect the consecrated virgins. Unto us all give strength
against our enemies and thine, courage to the fearful, joy to those that
mourn, peace to the contrite of heart, perseverance to the just. Let
all experience Thy protection, Virgin and Mother through whom the
nations are brought to penitence, the demons are put to flight, and they
that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death be filled with the
knowledge and love of Thy Son.
Bishop Neumann's love for the Holy Eucharist:
"In the Blessed Sacrament Bishop Neumann found the sweet object of his lively faith, his firm hope, his tender love. His devotion to Jesus hidden under the Eucharistic veils was earnest and edifying; and intense was his desire to enkindle the same among his flock. He longed for them to share largely in the rich blessings flowing from this source of grace. The best means to accomplish this lay, as he thought, in the devotion of the Forty Hours; and the thought of introducing it into his diocese, of celebrating it with all possible pomp and splendor, was one that constantly recurred to his mind. (...)
The clergy and laity alike were deeply edified at his ardent love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. For the worthy celebration of the devotion, he gladly lent his own magnificent ostensorium and his richest vestments. It was his greatest happiness to contribute in every way to the glory of his hidden God: magnificent ornaments, rare flowers, innumerable lights-all that the wealth of earth could afford or the skill of man devise he wished to lay in homage upon the altar of his Lord. Whenever it was possible, he opened the Forty Hours with Pontifical High Mass, took part in the procession, or closed the solemnities.
(...)
His Care for souls:
"As regards Protestantism, I must say that I have been undeceived. I used to think that its splitting up into innumerable forms had generated coldness and indifference; but it is not so. Their noisy preaching in the streets and public places, the obtrusiveness of those who distribute Bibles, their ridiculous prophecies respecting the Day of Judgment, etc., amaze us Catholics. If one enters a Methodist meeting-house during religious services, one might believe himself transported to the times of Elias and the priests of Baal. All are praying aloud, though not in concert. One shouts, another screams; some weep, some sing; whilst others, turning deadly pale, fall to the floor, foam at the mouth, groan as if in agony, roll about convulsively, having, as they blasphemously assert, received the Holy Ghost. It would be worth while to advise our European sceptics to attend one of these sensational meetings. They would, without doubt, carry away a belief in the existence of the devil. That the Catholic Church alone is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic is convincingly brought home to our Catholics here, for the truth enters both by eyes and ears."
Father Neumann's fervent prayers for the conversion of infidels and heretics were productive of a rich harvest of souls. God granted him the consolation of leading many a wandering sheep back to the fold. If he happened to hear of some poor apostate Catholics among the Protestants of his locality, his heart was torn with anguish, and he redoubled his prayers and penances in their behalf.
"My God, my God," he cried, "sanctify me, that I may become a fit instrument of Thy graces and mercies to the souls Thou hast confided to me! If Thou seest that success will make me vain, do not, I beseech Thee, on that account allow me to fail. Humble me in some other way, but do not punish me through my parishioners."
Sometimes his journal speaks of whole families under instruction, either for baptism or reception into the Church. Here are some lines which initiate us into the secret of his success:
"The recitation of the Rosary for my stray sheep is always productive of abundant fruit. I will redouble my zeal in this sweet and efficacious devotion."
To prayer Father Neumann united study. One of his resolutions of this period was to prepare more diligently for his sermons, hoping thereby more easily to convince heretics of the truth.
His longing for the salvation of souls was so intense that he offered himself a victim to the justice of Almighty God, being willing to suffer and die for this end."
Life of Right Rev. John N. Neumann, D.D., of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer: Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia by Rev. Fr. Johann Berger CSSR Brothers, 1884
