Oct. 5 Wednesday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest; Optional Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska, Virgin , Opt. Mem.

Gospel Verse, Rom 8:15bc: You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father! Born in Fussen, Germany in 1819, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos entered the diocesan seminary, and, coming to know the charism of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, joined it and was sent to North America. Ordained a priest in 1844, he began his pastoral ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as assistant pastor of his confrere Saint John Neumann, serving also as Master of Novices and dedicating himself to preaching. He became a full-time itinerant missionary preacher, preaching in both English and German in a number of different states. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 4, 1867. On July 25, 2014, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the inscription of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest, into the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America. He is celebrated each year as an Optional Memorial on October 5.