Today, January 15, is the memorial of Saint Arnold Janssen.
Founder of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), and the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (Pink Sisters).
Born in 1837 in Germany, Arnold felt an early call to the priesthood. He was ordained in 1861. His well-educated background qualified him to teach science and catechism for many years. He occupied various posts: chaplain and director of the Ursuline convent at Kempen; director of the diocesan Apostleship of Prayer; editor of a journal about missionary work; and so on.
He established the religious congregation Society of the Divine Word in Steyl, Netherlands in 1875. The SVD was granted papal approval in 1901. The Society, which soon had houses in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, was composed of missionary priests who worked in Tonga, New Guinea, Japan, Paraguay, and throughout North America. The first SVD missionaries, St. Joseph Freinademetz and John Anzer, went to Hong Kong.
Arnold founded the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) to assist the priests in their mission and the Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (Pink Sisters) who devote themselves to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and prayer for the success of missionary efforts. In these projects, Arnold was assisted by Blessed Maria Virgo and Blessed Hendrina Stenmanns.
At age 71, he died of natural causes in 1909 in the Netherlands. He was beatified in 1975 by Pope St. Paul VI. He was canonized in 2003 by Pope St. John Paul II.