The Holy Spirit Sisters (SSpS) celebrated the 125th anniversary of the founding of their congregation with gratitude and rejoicing, recalling their humble beginnings and giving thanks to God for all he has done through them.
The SSpS Sisters were founded by St Arnold Janssen in Steyl, The Netherlands, in 1889, with co-foundresses, Mother Maria Helena Stollenwerk and Mother Josepha Hendrina Stenmanns. Fr Arnold had founded a Society for men, the Divine Word Missionaries, in 1875. Recognising the important role played by women in missionary outreach, Arnold founded the SSpS worldwide women’s missionary congregation in 1889.
As a result of St Arnold’s whole hearted ‘yes’ to God, today there are about 3100 Holy Spirit Sisters from 48 nationalities continuing God’s mission in 51 countries.
The Sisters in Australia and Fiji celebrated the occasion with a Jubilee Mass in the Holy Spirit Chapel in Carseldine, Brisbane on December 7, as well as celebrations in their communities in Fiji, Melbourne, Cairns and Sydney. The main celebrant of the Brisbane Mass was Archbishop Mark Coleridge, with concelebrants Fr Gerry Hefferan, Fr Sunil Menezes SVD and Fr Asaeli Raass SVD.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge reflected on the name of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, saying they are Servants of the Holy Spirit because they are servants of the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit.
“The Lord has been saying ‘comfort them’ through the Sisters for 125 years,” he said.
Archbishop Coleridge said the Congregation was founded in difficult times, in the wake of Bismarck and the Kulturekampf in 1889, “but in the midst of that desert, where many people were in spiritual exile, we find extraordinary figures like St Arnold Janssen, Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwerk and Blessed Josepha Hendrina Stenmanns, who are flesh and blood like the Baptist, who rose up in the desert, and who says there is another home we can come back to”.
Provincial Leader, Sr Sarita Kurikattil SSpS, told those gathered that “we are all in this mission together”.
“I thank God and rejoice with all our Sisters here in Australia and around the world for God’s wonders that we have experienced in the life of our Congregation during these past 125 years,” she said.
“Yes, God, by inviting our founder, Fr Arnold and co-foundresses, Mother Maria and Mother Josepha from Germany, to be His partners in mission, has done infinitely more than we could dream or imagine.
“The Founder, being a God-centred person, trusted totally the same Spirit that filled the first disciples with courage on the day of Pentecost.
“He took up the challenge of founding our Congregation with no money in his pocket, but trusting that it would be provided if it is God’s will! This great trust of Arnold Janssen made many people consider him either a saint or a fool. However, with is canonisation in 2003, he proved officially that he was not a fool, but a saint.”
Sr Sarita said she sometimes wonders what motivated the founders to go ahead and take up such a courageous mission task.
“The more I reflect on their lives, I am convinced fully that it was their total trust in God. On this strong foundation, our Congregation has survived for the past 125 years and continues to grow in spite of the many challenges our world and church have experienced in the past and is experiencing now,” she said.
“Today, I thank all our lay partners and friends for being part of this great venture of God, together with us. You have made it possible for us in one way or another to continue to share God’s gifts here in Australia from 1945 and to reach out to the whole world directly and indirectly.
“Yes, we are in this mission together. Together we continue to make a difference.”