Zealous Missionary: New Book Features First-Person Narration of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos' Holy Life
With abundant joy and deep devotion to Jesus and Mary, the brief life of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos enriched all the lives he touched.
In Zealous Missionary, a new 108-page paperback book from Liguori Publications, Fr. Richard Boever, CSsR, brings a personal touch to the life story of Blessed Seelos, who became a Redemptorist priest to serve the growing immigrant population in America. Fr. Rich serves as the executive director at the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans.
Born in a small town near the Bavarian Alps in Germany, Seelos left Europe at age 24. He joined the Redemptorists as a missionary to the new country where German speaking priests were needed to provide spiritual guidance throughout the United States.
Following his ordination in 1844, he served churches in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Michigan, before his final assignment to St. Mary’s Assumption Parish in New Orleans, the church that hosts his national shrine still today. While many people fled the coastal region during a yellow fever epidemic, Father Seelos stayed to comfort and console the suffering. The disease claimed his life in 1867, but his spirit and memory lived on in the community. He was beatified by St. John Paul II in 2000.
Fr. Richard Boever studied the life and writings of Blessed Seelos in creating this first-person narrative. The style and language match the letters that Seelos wrote to his family members, confreres, and others. Several excerpts of those letters are included in this book along with the biographical information of Seelos’ life.
A companion book by Fr. Rich, Pastoral Dynamo: From the Perspective of St. John Neumann, is scheduled for publication in December. Neumann and Seelos served together at St. Philomena Parish in Pittsburgh, where Fr. Neumann was the pastor. Zealous Missionary is a 5 x 7-inch paperback available now for $10.99. Pre-orders are being taken for Pastoral Dynamo at Liguori.org.
About Fr. Richard Boever, CSsR
Fr. Richard Boever, CSsR, has been in the Catholic ministry since 1974. During that time he has served as a parish priest and pastor in St. Louis and Chicago, taught theology at Newman University and Saint Louis University, served as a university chaplain, and he has been director of Redemptorist formation for the pre-novitiate program. He also held various positions at Liguori Publications, including president and publisher, and he was retreat director at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. He served as a research expert at the St. John Neumann Shrine in Philadelphia. Currently, he is executive director at the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans.
