PERU—As Saint John Neumann walked the dusty roads of northern Ohio in the 1800s he planted the seeds of faith and Catholic education.

The first male U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint, his efforts are remembered and continue today through a prayer center located in a log cabin in Peru, just south of Norwalk, where the saint slept, celebrated Mass and ministered to early Ohio settlers.

The St. John Neumann Prayer Center was established after a local family offered to donate an original homestead, built from 1828 to 1830, to Peru St. Alphonsus Liguori Church.  The Joseph Carabin family, early members of the parish, had owned the home when St. John Neumann served in the area for five months in 1841.

The log cabin was moved to its present site, just west of state Route 61 and about a mile from the church, in 1996 when parishioners began many hours of work to restore the cabin and establish the prayer center. It was designated a pilgrimage site by the Diocese of Toledo in 1999.

Jack Schaffer, director of the St. John Neumann Prayer Center, has helped in the effort from its inception. “We were called to do it,” Mr. Schaffer says. “The Lord wanted it and so did we.”

Since its dedication, parishioners have planted about 150 trees and shrubs as they add gardens to the original prayer center. In addition to the historic cabin, it now features Mary’s Grotto and Rosary Walk and the St. John Neumann Prayer Garden.
Mr. Schaffer says some wonderful experiences have come from the center.

“We have a book of miracles,” he explains, “but they have not been officially sanctioned or authenticated.” One of the most dramatic reports of a healing, says Mr. Schaffer, is that of a young boy whose grandfather spent many hours helping restore the log cabin. Gene Wise and his family asked for the intercession of St. John Neumann and brought a relic from the cabin to his grandson Marc Wise when he was hospitalized and doctors reported little hope for his recovery.

When Lifeflight took Marc to the Medical College of Ohio his heart was swollen to four times its normal size and there was bleeding in his brain. He was not expected to live through the night. When the boy fully recovered, Mr. Schaffer says, the doctors said they couldn’t take any credit for the healing.  

In addition to the stories of healing and miracles that Mr. Schaffer has chronicled, there are others that have only been passed on by word of mouth, he says.

“It is God’s gift for spiritual solace and growth,” Mr. Schaffer says. “People come and just sit and just suck up the spiritual power that is here.”

He adds that many people return to the center periodically to recharge spiritually, including one veteran of the Iraq war who has been coming for several years.

“It is peaceful and beautiful,” Mr. Schaffer says of the center. “It is really the Lord’s gift to us and we will take care of it.”

Open to the public until 10 p.m. daily, the center is available for personal or small group retreats, healing services, prayer services, days of recollection, prayer groups, study groups and family get-togethers. Inspirational and other reading materials are available for reflection. For more information call 419-668-0612.