Saint Arnold Janssen

Life story

Arnold Janssen was born on 5 November 1837 in Goch, on the lower Rhine in Prussia, into a farming family. He studied theology in Münster and was ordained a priest in 1861. He then taught mathematics and natural sciences at a secondary school in Bocholt for about twelve years.

He took part in promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart in Germany and was interested in missionary work abroad. When he wanted to set up a house to train missionaries, the German authorities during the Kulturkampf did not allow it, so he moved to the village of Steyl in the Netherlands, close to the border. There in 1875 he opened a mission house and founded the Society of the Divine Word, in Latin Societas Verbi Divini.

The society's first missionaries were sent to China in 1879, among them Johann Anzer and Josef Freinademetz. Later the society expanded to South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands. In 1889 he founded the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, and in 1896 a women's congregation devoted to perpetual adoration of the Eucharist. He also edited and published mission magazines to raise interest and support, which helped finance the work.

He died on 15 January 1909 in Steyl. He was beatified in 1975 and canonised by Pope John Paul II on 5 October 2003. The Church keeps his feast on 15 January. His tomb is at Steyl.

Works and witness

• Ordained in 1861 and taught at Bocholt for about twelve years
• Founded a mission house and the Society of the Divine Word at Steyl in 1875
• Sent the first missionaries to China in 1879
• Founded two women's congregations in 1889 and 1896
• Died at Steyl in 1909; canonised in 2003

Saints from the same country

Saint Ambrose, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Saint Bruno of Cologne

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Society of the Divine Word, biography of Saint Arnold Janssen

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.