The Society of the Divine Word has this month celebrated the feast days of its two SVD saints, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz, with the occasions taking on special significance during the SVD’s 150th Jubilee Year.
The Australian Province of the Society of the Divine Word celebrated the feast days with special Masses and social gatherings of confreres, SSpS Sisters, parishioners, lay partners and partners in mission, while in Rome the day was marked by the release of a new book, entitled ‘Treasures of the Past and Experiences of the Present’.
St Arnold founded the Society of the Divine Word on September 8, 1875. He later went on to found two orders of Religious Women, the Servant Sisters of the Holy Spirit and the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration.
His feast day is on January 15, the date of his death in 1909.
On March 2, 1879, the first two SVD missionaries set out for China. One of these was Joseph Freinademetz.
St Joseph, whose feast day is on January 29, stayed for many years in China, during turbulent political and cultural times, and he faced many challenges, but he came to know and love the Chinese people and was loved by them in return.
“I do not consider missionary life as a sacrifice I offer to God, but as the greatest grace that God could ever have lavished upon me,” he said.
The two feast days were celebrated across the Australia Province, from small villages in Thailand to parishes in New Zealand, Myanmar and around Australia, from Balgo in Western Australia to the Tiwi Islands in the north, Central Australia, parishes in Queensland, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria.
Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD said the founder’s feast day was a time to give thanks.
“It is an opportunity to sincerely thank the Triune God for our founder Arnold Janssen; for his foresightedness, his sacrifice and love for God’s mission which allowed him to create this enterprise which has now grown to become the sixth largest religious order in the missionary world.
“It is an opportunity for us to give thanks for being part of this mission and to recognise that there is still much work to do for the next 150 years.”
At the Provincial centre in Marsfield, Sydney, the Rector, Fr Bill Burt SVD said the simplicity of the man, Arnold Janssen, was the inspiration behind the celebration of St Arnold’s Feast day.
At the morning Mass in the Arnold Janssen Chapel, Fr Bill described the SVD’s Father and Founder as being a very ordinary person.
“There has never been a ‘cult’ around him,” he said. “While the chapel at Steyl where his earthly remains lie does attract pilgrims, people don’t flock there in huge numbers as they do to places like Assisi. And surely Arnold wouldn’t have wanted to be remembered as a ‘super hero’! He was a simple man, with an extraordinary dream, which we ordinary people are privileged to put into practice now.”
In the evening, the SSpS Sisters joined the SVD Marsfield community for a celebratory meal.
“It was special, but in an ‘ordinary’ way,” Fr Bill said. “Members of the Arnoldus Family, ordinary people like St Arnold, shared our meal with lots of love and laughter. I think Arnold would have enjoyed being with us!”
In Rome, the Superior-General of the Society of the Divine Word, Fr Anselmo Ricardo Ribeiro SVD also highlighted St Arnold’s humility and preference for keeping a low profile.
"In one of the documents relating to his canonisation, it can be read that: ‘Few are those who know the man who founded and imbued with his spirit 3 congregations that developed in surprising ways’. And it's no wonder, because he himself loved to stay on the sidelines, in the shadows. He loved to entirely hide behind his work,” Fr Anselmo said in his homily.
“Arnold empties himself because he sees the meaning of his life in God's will. Fulfilling it is the realisation of his vocation. Understanding this sovereign will is a daily goal. He hides in his work because he recognises it not as his own, but as belonging to the Holy Spirit.”
In his comments at the launch of the commemorative Jubilee publication, Fr Anselmo thanked those who worked together to contribute to and produce the book and said it stands as testimony to God’s goodness.
“This publication is neither a mere account of our history nor even less a nod to our mission work, but rather a recognition of what the Lord has done within us and for us,” he said.
“’Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders will labour in vain’, says the Psalm. “Each historical event portrayed in each experience of a missionary of the Divine Word recounted here points us to the hands of The Potter, who, over the years has shaped our lives and mission until we became who we are, men consecrated to the mission gathered in intercultural communities who announced the Divine Word and assume his life and mission as our own.
“The celebration of our Jubilee this year should make us aware that a quarter of this century is complete, and that we have already entered a new era. It is from this vantage point that we have to look to the future.
“From what we have experienced so far, we must be aware that the Lord is the one who shapes the mission. We are workers of Missio Dei. Our plans and undertakings have to be the result of listening to and accepting God's will. Our future is in the hands of the Lord. In our hands, we have only the fruits that He cultivates throughout our existence as a missionary congregation.”
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: Artworks of St Arnold Janssen (left) and St Joseph Freinademetz.
MIDDLE LEFT: The launch of the Jubilee Commemorative book, ‘Treasures of the Past and Experiences of the Present’ (SVD Generalate Media Department).
BOTTOM RIGHT: SVD Superior-General Fr Anselmo Ricardo Ribeiro speaking at the launch of the book in Rome (SVD Generalate Media Department).