Rajmond Wider, born August 16, 1861 in Cieszyn (Prussian-held Poland), first attended local schools before entering the seminary. On June 29, 1885, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Furstenberg in the cathedral at Olomouc, Austria (now the Czech Republic). His first appointment that of a vicariate to a parish at Strumenia - lasted several years.

As far as can be ascertained, Wider began his ministry in the United States at St. Adalbert Parish in Buffalo, NY as assistant to Ks. Marcin Mozejewski. He then went on (in 1890) to organize the new parish of St. Casimir in the Kaisertown section of Buffalo. His stay there lasted until February 1892 when he left to serve the Slovaks in the Pittsburgh, PA Diocese. Wider proved to be a dedicated worker who was instrumental in organizing St. Michael Parish in Braddock, PA and who learned the Slovak language (which is akin to Polish) to better communicate with the people.

1893 was Wider involved in a labor incident at the Thompson Company in Braddock. A strike occurred at this company which employed many of his parishioners. In the heat of the strike, some company men were killed; three of Wider's parishioners were arrested and tried for the deaths. He and a Prostestant minister were instrumental in convincing the courts to revoke the death penalty.

Records indicate that after having left Braddock in 1895 because of a misunderstanding in the parish, Wider filled the need for a Slovak-speaking priest in New Haven, a community not far from Pittsburgh. That same year, he organized St. John the Evangelist Parish there and labored among the parishioners until his death on February 8, 1897.