Fr.

Arnold Janssen was a German

Diocesan priest, at Goch on
November 5, 1837. As a student
from Bonn, he was distinguished by
winning a competition through an
essay of a botanical subject.

He was offered a role of being a

teacher in the department of natural
science, a prestigious offer of high
salary and exposure to the general
public about his knowledge, but the
offer did not bait him to accept a
position of security and serene
existence of European intellectuals.

He did something unexpected,

given his role in secular subjects, as
he unknowingly became a priest. At
this time, Germany was torn apart
by a dictorial leadership, which
approved of prussian laws that
affected the whole religious
structure. It became a criminal
offense for any priest to
exercise priestly functions without
authorization from civil power.
Semerians were subjected to
military service, fines and taxes
collected. Bishops and Priest were
thrown to prison.

Janssen devoted his time to the

publication of the magazine,
Messenger of the Heart, that called
out all the exiled priests under the
German Regime to work for his
mission. His time of being a priest,
and the time of dictorial leader
seemed so ill-timed,
He opened his first mission
seminary in 1875 in an old
dilapidated inn across the border in
Steyl, Holland. This was done
under the most modest
circumstances. Fr. Arnold made
strict demands on those he
admitted: first of all a spirit of prayer
and humility, then hard work and a
simple style of life in evangelical
poverty; missionaries would have to
be prepared for great sacrifices. Yet
numbers steadily increased. In
1889, after a prolonged period of
preparation, he founded a
congregation of mission sisters in
the service of love - the Sister
Servants of the Holy Spirit
(S.Sp.S.). In 1896 he formed a
branch of the cloistered sisters for
contemplative work - the Sisters
Servants of the Holy Spirit of
Perpetual Adoration - since 1917 an
independent congregation.
The founder never left Europe, but
his priests and brothers soon set
out to make the world their parish:
in 1879 he sent the first two to
China; in 1892 the first were
sent to Togo; in 1896 to New
Guinea; in 1905 to the colored in
North America; in 1906 to Japan; in
1908 to the Indians in Paraguay.
From 1889 onwards he sent men to
several countries in South America:
Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile.
Shortly before his death, he made
arrangements to send priests and
brothers to the Philippines.

When he died on January 15, 1909,

his initial community of four had
expanded to a big Family of three
congregations working all over the
world, building God's Kingdom.