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St. Arnold Janssen
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Arnold Janssen was born on November 5, 1837 in the town of Goch, Germany, a town near the Dutch border. From his childhood, he was influenced by the Prologue of St. John and developed a special love for the Word. He was ordained a diocesan priest in 1861, and began his ministry as a teacher. He began a magazine for mission awareness, The Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart. In the Messenger, he began to promote the idea of beginning a seminary to train diocesan priests for the missions. Because political conditions in Germany were unfavorable to Catholics, Fr. Janssen purchased land in nearby Holland to begin his seminary. On September 8, 1875 St. Michael the Archangel Mission House in Steyl, Holland was dedicated. The Society of the Divine Word was born.
Within a few years of its founding, scores of seminarians, priests and brothers
were preparing for missionary service at Steyl and the first two missionaries
were sent to China. One, Fr. Joseph
Freinademetz, was an outstanding missionary who was beatified, along with
St. Arnold Janssen, in 1975. In the late part of the 1800's the Society of
the Divine Word experienced tremendous growth and expansion. Mission Houses were
opened in Austria and Germany, more mission areas were accepted by the Society.
Fr. Janssen founded two congregations of Sisters. December 8, 1889 marked the founding of the Holy Spirit Sisters, also known as "Blue Sisters", due to the colour of their dress . The Sisters, carrying the charism of the Founder, began work in many of the areas where Divine Word Fathers and Brothers served, often building and operating schools and hospitals.
In 1896 Fr. Janssen also founded the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, also known as the "Pink Sisters", a name taken from their pink habit. They spread all over the world, performing their ministry of prayer through perpetual adoration of the Eucharist.
Fr. Arnold Johnson's Tomb
