B arnold janssen biography
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Janssen, Arnold, Bl.
Religious founder; b. Goch, in the Rhineland, Germany, November 5, ; d. Steyl, Netherlands, January 15, After passing a state examination to teach natural sciences in the secondary schools in Bonn (), he studied for the priesthood in Münster and was ordained (). For the next 12 years he taught science in a secondary school in Bocholt. From he was also diocesan director of the Apostleship of Prayer, which he promoted throughout Germany by publishing a periodical and distributing free leaflets. After relinquishing his teaching duties (), he devoted himself to propagating devotion to the Sacred Heart and interest in the missions. With four companions he opened a house to train German priests for foreign mission work. Because of the Kulturkampf the site selected for this house was in the Netherlands at Steyl, near the German border. Janssen's original plan of a missionary society of priests whose members would not take religious vows crystallized into the Society of the Divine Word, a congregation of priests and lay brothers with simple vows. The brothers operated the presses in his large printing establishment at Steyl. During Janssen's term as the first superior general, the institute grew rapidly and spread to the U.S. and to several other countries.
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Our Founder | St. Arnold Janssen
Saint Arnold Janssen was born into a devoutly Catholic family in Goch, Germany in Growing up, he was greatly influenced by his father, a man of deep faith who revered the Holy Trinity and the Word of God. These would become integral parts of SVDspirituality and charism, with the latter becoming the central name of his missionary society, the Divine Word.
Humble beginnings
Entering a minor seminary in Gaesdonck, in , he went on to study mathematics and the natural sciences and was ordained in For twelve years, he taught in a public school. During this time, he became involved in a movement called the Apostleship of Prayer League, and soon became its director. To support its cause, he wrote a small pamphlet, which became quite popular. He left his teaching position in to focus on the apostleship and to become chaplain of a religious order of women, the Ursuline sisters, in Kempen. After writing several books on prayer, he began publishing a magazine, “The Little Messenger of the Heart of Jesus,” which was also quite successful. He soon discovered two things: there was a market for such printed materials and there was support in his country for a German missionary society.
This was during the height of European colonialism. Unlike many
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