Arnold Janssen was born on November 5, 1837 in the town of Goch, in lower Germany. He was one of 10 children raised in a religious family.
He was ordained a priest in August, 1861 and served the Diocese of Münster, teaching science and maths to schoolchildren. He was renowned for his devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was named diocesan director for the Apostleship of Prayer.
He soon developed a missionary concern for the wider Church, and in 1873 resigned as a teacher and founded a magazine called Messenger of the Sacred Heart, to publicise the work of missionaries.
By that point, Bismarck had introduced Kultur-kampf, involving a series of anti-Catholic laws resulting in the expulsion of priests and Religious and the imprisonment of bishops.
Arnold suggested that some of these expelled priests should go to the foreign missions; he then discovered that God was calling him to support this task.
Printing press
In 1875 Arnold established the mission house in Steyl Holland which began the Divine Word Missionaries. On March 2, 1879 the first two missionaries set out for China; among them was St Joseph Freinademetz.
Recognising the importance of publishing in spreading the word of missionaries, Arnold launched a printing press to distribute magazines. He was supported by a congregation of people which soon became a community of priests and brothers.
Mission work
His supporters included Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwerk, prompting him to found the mission congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit; the first Sisters left for Argentina in 1895. The following year, Fr Arnold selected some of the Sisters to form a cloistered branch known as the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration. They prayed day and night for the Church and their missionary congregations.
Arnold died on January 15, 1909. He established more than 6,000 Divine Word Missionaries across 63 countries, more than 3,800 missionary Servants of the Holy Spirit, and more than 400 Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration.
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