Maryland's own Father Seelos considered for canonization

A bench sits in the garden of St. Mary's Church in Annapolis, Maryland, though it is more than just a bench. Sitting on it is a life-sized bronze statue of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a nineteenth-century missionary and former pastor at St. Mary's who is a candidate for sainthood.

Fr. Seelos was born in 1819 in Germany. He entered the seminary in his early twenties and met members the Redemptorists, a missionary group, which inspired him to join and help German immigrants in the United States. After traveling to the U.S. in early 1843, he finished his studies and was ordained a priest in St. James Church in Baltimore. He served at various parishes during his life, including St. Alphonsus in Baltimore, Sts. Peter and Paul in Cumberland, and St. Mary's.

Seelos was a prime example of following in the footsteps of Christ during his time in the United States. He helped and prayed with the poor and sick, spread the word of Christ in a way that everyone could relate to, and was famous for attracting long lines during confessions because of his forgiving and understanding personality.

A Redemptorist website, Seelos.org, describes him as a man whose "availability and innate kindness…quickly made him known as an expert confessor and spiritual director, so much so that people came to him from neighboring towns." Caring for the less fortunate and guiding others toward God was Seelos' calling. It was this calling, however, that ultimately called him to live with Christ in October of 1867 at the age of 48 when he contracted yellow fever from the sick people he was treating in New Orleans

Seelos is a revered person in St. Mary's community not only because of his virtuous actions during life but because he also touched the parish after his death. A St. Mary's parishioner is at the center of a Church investigation into a miracle that could give Seelos the honored title of "saint."

Mary Ellen Heibel, 71, found out she had terminal cancer in 2004 and had about six months to live. After undergoing treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, doctors told her she was completely cured in February 2005. They could not explain the sudden disappearance of the cancer, but Heibel thought she knew why she was so fortunate.

In 2003, when Heibel was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, she began wearing a tiny relic of Seelos' bone around her neck. In January of 2005, she started to pray to Seelos with then pastor of St. Mary's, Rev. Denis Sweeney. Just weeks later, no trace of cancer could be found on CT scans, and every scan since has come back clean.

"I'd never seen anybody be cured and not recur until her," said Dr. Michael Gibson in a Baltimore Sun article from June 2009. Seelos has already passed the first step toward becoming a saint - beatification. On April 9, 2000 he was declared "Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos" by Pope John Paul II for a miracle that occurred in New Orleans. A woman with terminal liver cancer was cured after praying to Seelos.

After someone is beatified, another miracle is needed for them to be canonized a saint. Heibel's astonishing and unexplainable recovery from cancer could be the missing piece, though how long it will take until the Church deems whether her story is truly a miracle is difficult to predict.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore conducted an investigation this summer into the circumstances surrounding the supposed miracle. Their findings will be sent to Rome, where the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will launch their own investigation and make a recommendation to Pope Benedict XVI, who has the final say on whether or not Seelos will be declared a saint. This process could take years, as many cases fall apart due to lack of evidence or support.

If Seelos is canonized, he will join other saints who left an imprint in the Baltimore area, including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. John Neumann, who was one of Seelos' mentors. "It was here at St. Mary's in Annapolis that these two confreres met for the first time," said Rev. John Kingsbury, C.S.R., the current pastor of St. Mary's. "It makes me proud to be connected to this Religious Congregation (the Redemptorists) that gave birth to these two confreres."

For many members of St. Mary's, the title of "saint" is not required to know that Seelos was a saintly man."Whether or not this is declared a miracle, I find the life of Seelos to be the best of what I would expect of a Redemptorist who truly loves God and wants to live the Gospel," said Rev. Kingsbury.

As for Heibel, she tries to set the spotlight more on Seelos, who she believes gave her health in return for her faith in him. "Her focus…is not about the healing but about Fr. Seelos," said Rev. Kingsbury. "She of course prays that as this event is examined it will be found to be miraculous - in this way she, who has received a gift through Fr. Seelos' intercession, now is able to give a gift back - namely Fr. Seelos being declared a saint."

As St. Mary's and the rest of Seelos' loyal following waits to hear word about Seelos, they continue to honor and pray to the man who in many ways exemplifies what Loyola University's mission is - "to learn, lead and serve in a diverse and changing world." By traveling to a foreign country, helping those who needed it, and serving as a mentor and a friend to those who needed him, Seelos lived up to the example of the Jesuit man he was named after, St. Francis Xavier.

"Often during the day as I look out the window a parishioner is on the bench reflecting," said Rev. Kingsbury. People find it easy to reflect and pray in the presence of such an influential man.