He may be a fool or a Saint

Kwento ng Ordinaryong Tao

“His being a priest was part of his family’s inspiration, of a prayerful environment. It was a family practice that they pray The Angelus every 6:00 in the evening besides their devotions to different Angels, Archangels, Saints, Mama Mary and the Holy Trinity.”

Dear HERALD,

Here is a another set of sharing of the life of my favorite saint.
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the Light of the Word and the Spirit of Grace. And may the Heart of Jesus Lives and Reigns in the hearts of all.” An inspiring prayer from words of St. Arnold Janssen, SVD. He started the Societas Verbi Divini in Latin, Society of the Divine Word or Divine Word Missionaries in English known as SVD.
We may be familiar with San Carlos University, Cebu; Holy Name University, Tagbilaran, Bohol; and Liceo Verbo Divino, Tacloban. These are some of the schools run by SVD. Allow me to talk of the person who started one of the three congregations.
He was born at Goch, Germany. He grew up from a religious family whose father is a farmer and a mother who takes care of the household chores. Arnold was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was the least among the few expected to start a congregation. A certain man inspired him to start a Deutsch-speaking Mission House. He prayed for this as trained by his parents.
His being a priest was part of his family’s inspiration, of a prayerful environment. It was a family practice that they pray The Angelus every 6:00 in the evening besides their devotions to different Angels, Archangels, Saints, Mama Mary and the Holy Trinity. Arnold Janssen loved the Gospel of St. John.
Creation of any religious movement was prohibited at Germany that time. In fact Fr. Arnold finished his seminary life through an underground formation house. He went to the neighbouring country, Holland.
A river divides Germany from Steyl, Holland. He asked blessings with permission from the Bishop of Holland. He was given this, and was asked if he has the money to build the House.
Fr. Arnold stated that, he has none but the people has. The bishop said, “He may be a fool or a saint.” No one can imagine of starting a huge project like a congregation without any financial support.
His inspiration increased since he can write. He also asked for the Pope’s blessings. He wrote and edited the Little Messenger as a way of accumulating funds for the project. He continued his prayers to Mama Mary. He accumulated funds but not enough to purchase a property.
The greatest twist came when house helper was given an ample amount of money by her master and offered this to start the Religious Missionary Congregation. She was led by the Pope to meet Fr. Arnold Janssen.
The fund was enough to buy a barn house. He then, formally started the Deutsch Mission House. He opened this during the birthday of Mother Mary, last September 8, 1875. He named it after his favourite Gospel of St. John, the Divine Word -The Society of the Divine Word.
St. Arnold Janssen was canonized last October 2003 together with St. Joseph Frienademetz. He founded other congregations such as SSpS Sisters also known as the Blue Sisters and the Pink Sisters due to their Pink hobbits. (Courtesy: Joseph Nichols Magdaherin)