Arnold Janssen

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Arnold Janssen
birth_date=birth date|1837|11|5|df=y
death_date=death date and age|1909|1|15|1837|11|5|df=y
feast_day=January 15
venerated_in=Roman Catholicism


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caption=Saint Arnold Janssen
birth_place= Goch, Germany
death_place=
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beatified_date=19 October 1975
beatified_place=
beatified_by=Pope Paul VI
canonized_date=5 October 2003
canonized_place=Rome
canonized_by=John Paul II
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patronage=
suppressed_date=
issues=
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Saint Arnold Janssen (November 5, 1837 – January 15, 1909) was a Roman Catholic priest best known for founding the mission Society of the Divine Word, the members of which are known as "Divine Word Missionaries", and two congregations for women.

Janssen was born in Goch, Germany, near the Dutch border and attended the Roman Catholic boarding school Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck. He was ordained a priest in 1861. Janssen purchased land in Steyl (Netherlands) to begin his seminary, dedicated in 1875 as "St. Michael the Archangel Mission House". Within a few years, many seminarians, priests and brothers were preparing for missionary service there, and the first two missionaries, Joseph Freinademetz and John Anzer, were sent to China. Janssen also founded two congregations of religious Sisters: The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (members known as "Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit") in December 8, 1889, and the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters ("Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration") in September 8, 1896.

He and Joseph Freinademetz were canonized on October 5, 2003 by Pope John Paul II, as was Daniele Comboni, an important missionary in Africa. Janssen was canonized after the healing of a Filipino teenager living in Baguio who fell down on a bike and was not expected to recover from a head wound. According to her relatives and the Church, she was healed miraculously following prayers to Janssen.

External links

* [http://www.svdcuria.info/public/histtrad/founders/founders.htm Biography - Society of the Divine Word]
* [http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031005_janssen_en.html Biography - Vatican News Service]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16047a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Arnold Janssen]
* [http://www.arnold-joseph-100.net Biography and other resources]