Charles Fehrenbach (May 17, 1909,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

– February 6, 2006

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) was a

Redemptorist The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scal ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

who was an author, translator and host of a local religious radio program in the Philadelphia area. He obtained a Ph.D. in German from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

after he was ordained in

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, on June 23, 1935. He worked at St. Mary's Seminary in North East, Pennsylvania as registrar from 1942 to 1959; during this period he became known as an outstanding spiritual director and confessor, conducting retreats and Lenten missions in addition to his work at the seminary. He translated several critical editions of works ("

The Glories of Mary ''The Glories of Mary'' () is a classic book in the field of Catholic Mariology, written during the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church. Description The book was written in part as a defense of Marian devotion a ...

" and "The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ") by the founder of the Redemptorists, St.

Alphonsus Liguori Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787) was an Italian Catholic bishop and saint, as well as a spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congre ...

, and also helped prepare an analytical index of the Redemptorist Constitution and Statutes. Following his departure from St. Mary's, he worked at a series of parishes; his longest assignment was at St. Peter's in Philadelphia, where he served from 1978 to 1995, before retiring to the St. John Neumann Home in

, where he was residing when he died. At the time of his death, he was the oldest Redemptorist in the Maryland Province. At St. Peter's, which is also the National Shrine of St. John Neumann, the

bishop who had been canonized in 1977, Fr. Fehrenbach greeted tour groups, said Mass and heard confessions for the pilgrims as well as for parishioners. During this period, he also hosted a daily fifteen-minute program on station

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during which the

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

was recited. Father Fehrenbach also appeared in episode 14 of season 5 of the TV series Unsolved Mysteries. He can be seen giving a tour of the Shrine of St. John Neumann between 12 and 13 minutes into the episode. Fr. Fehrenbach was also the author of the book Mary Day by Day, edition published July 1999 by Catholic Book Publishing Company which is a devotional booklet containing meditations for each day of the year with quotes from scriptures and the writing of saints on Mary; the book was published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company.

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Further reading