Divine Word College of Calapan
SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, 5200, Philippines
Prophetic Dialogue with Arnold Janssen Spirituality
A. WITNESSING TO THE WORD IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF ST.
ARNOLD JANSSEN AND THE SVD FOUNDING GENERATION.
Objectives: 1. To recognize the Spiritual Life of each individual in a given Family
2. To give emphasis on the Word of God in the milieu of family relationships inspired by
St. Arnold Janssen.
V. Devotions and Childlike Piety of St. Arnold
Our Founder did not leave us an instructive description of his personal ascetism; nor did he ever
identify himself with any ascetical school in practice. Any attempt to fit him into any school will distort his
true spirituality or asceticism. Instead, he has given us a practical example in his manner of serving God
and in his desire to form us in a practical way for this service by his many religious instructions. One cannot
understand his style by philosophizing or theologizing about it. We can only understand his deep devotions
by praying and meditating with him. Only in this way can we discover how rich and genuine in a Catholic
sense his piety was. How did he arrive at his personal style of piety?
His home at Goch is the first and most important school that formed the religious life of Arnold
Janssen. Much have been written about the deeply religious family life of Gerard and Catherine especially
how the children particularly Arnold imbibed the family atmosphere. Arnold's profound devotion to the
Divine Word is an exclusive heritage from his family. It was a custom in the Janssen family to pay the
Prologue of John every evening along with the night prayers.
The second school from where he derived his piety is the devotional life of the universal Church.
He zealously sought to foster everything: devotions to the Triune God, the Incarnate Word, the Holy Spirit,
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Eucharist, the Mother of God and Immaculate Spouse of the Holy
Spirit, the angels, St. Joseph, the holy apostles, martyrs, and saints, the Child Jesus, the Way of the Cross,
and the rosary. There is too much variety in his piety. Some say he is on the verge of pietism. Is this a
defect or is it not a precious abundance? I believe that his wide range of devotion is parallel to his idea of
universality of mission. His love and zeal for everything divine symbolize the whole realm of Church piety.
Our Founder, indeed, is universal like the Church on mission. Unconcerned about ascetical schools and
orientations.
He took everything that served the pursuit of perfection wherever he found it. As a result, each one of his
sons and daughters can find in our founder’s pious exercises what corresponds to his/her personal
inclinations. A brief survey of then ascetical schools will show that Father Arnold cannot be placed in any
one of them: Among the Fathers of the Church, St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great gave him much
inspiration. He included them both in the invocation of SVD patrons. He often quoted them in his retreat
conferences.
In the Benedictine School there corresponds in St. Arnold the love and zeal for festive divine services.
During the process of his beatification that begun in 1935, the judges expressed recognition: of the
beautiful arrangement of liturgical services, the cleanliness of our churches and sacristies. the altars and
church linens, the utensils and vestments. Today, we are still known for this, especially among sisters.
Father Arnold always kept things in excellent condition. This is our heritage from him.
From the Dominican School the Founder developed his great love Mary, mainly due to his great esteem
for St. Thomas Aquinas. This Marian devotion is centered on the rosary. He disseminated hundreds of
thousands of rosaries. As a diocesan priest he promoted the spread of the living Rosary He had
commentaries of the fifteen mysteries of the are included names of many saints of all conditions, He must
have had a wide reading of lives of the saints. Unfortunately, these commentaries are not published. His
devotion to the heart of Mary is much ahead of his time.
The Franciscan School finds echo in our Founder through Bambino Gesu at Christmas time. For him the
veneration of the Child Jesus was something very heartfelt, as it is among the Franciscans. Moreover, the
veneration of the suffering Jesus revealed in his devotion to the Way of the Cross and Friday prayers,
reminds us of the Franciscans.
The Ignatian School prompted the Founder to adopt methodical meditation and particular examen. These
were observed already in Steyl. Of course, the Ignatian retreat is still being practiced today by our novices.
The French School of the 17th century greatly influenced the Founder's devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. He became an ardent devotee as diocesan director of the Apostleship of Prayer. For almost twenty
years (until 1885) the Sacred Heart was the foreground of his devotions. The Heart of Jesus complemented
his devotion to the Heart of Mary. However, even before his contact with this school, Father Arnold already
showed devotion to the two hearts. In his first mass sermon on September 8, 1861, he urged the
congregation to plead to the Heart of Mary for the conversion of sinners. He also preached devotion to the
"miraculous medal" on which the two hearts are pictured. It is likely that he came to know the writings of
Father John Eudes about devotion to the twin hearts.
Father Arnold highly esteemed and honored St. Vincent de Paul, considered belonging to the French
School. His ascetical style appealed to Arnold very much. It is for this reason that Fr. Medits, a Vincentian,
set up the novitiate for the mission house. St. Vincent kindled our Founder's zeal for retreats, for the
sanctification of priestly vocations, and the salvation of souls. Further, the mild and kind character of the
saint had a transforming influence on Arnold's own character.
Devotion to the Holy Spirit, which our spiritual father nurtured for twenty-four years (1875-1909), finds its
roots in his parents. With that family background, he said before his ordination: "Every Monday I will
celebrate holy Mass in honor of the Holy Spirit who is the life and help of my spirit. However, his veneration
to the Holy Spirit came into full bloom through his contact with Fr. Medits. The devotion to the Holy Spirit,
along with that of the Heart of Mary, attests that Arnold Janssen was much ahead of his time. Today, no
doubt, these devotions are very popular,
Although similarities and links with these schools have been indicated. we see that the ascetical style of St.
Arnold cannot be fitted to any one of them. He had his own way. He is the originator of a unique ascetical
school for his sons and daughters, which, however, is not contained in any manual. It is the School of
Childlike Piety
Father Arnold's piety is "childlike" in the sense that Jesus understand it in the gospel where he says:
"Unless you change and become like little becoming like this child, is of great importance in the kingdom of
God (Mt 18:3-4). Content and style (substance and form) of his devotions reveal this childlike piety.
St. Arnold's devotional life is sublime in character. The thought of God is the foreground by emphasizing
the immediate worship of the Triune God, the Divine Word, the Sacred Heart, and of the Holy Spirit. He
was at all times aware of God's indwelling in the just soul, at a time when eve theologians hardly thought of
it. As regards veneration of angels, of Mary and all the saints, of his high esteem for the sacraments and
sacramentals he is very thorough and independent, not following the usual practices the Church.
His devotional style, however, is very simple. He is completely simple and naïve, as an unassuming child.
His train of thought and manner of expressing are like those of a child-unlearned and unreflective. He
places hope and trust so firmly in God, as a child does to his father or mother H childlike love of God also
shows in his unreserved surrender to God's Will. In spite of the simplicity of his religious interests, his
religious practice is very simple. Sublime content and simple practice then is St. Arnold's style of piety.
We now take a closer look at the Founder's simplicity, for it is precisely this simplicity that people either
misjudged or misunderstood him. He was not a scholarly theologian. Nonetheless, he knew the value of
further training in theology. After founding the mission seminary in Steyl. He first provided for a house of
studies in Rome. He sent 76 priests for further theological education in the universities in Rome, Vienna,
Bonn, Innsbruck and Munich. He did likewise in the natural sciences. The Anthropos always enjoyed his
protection and support.
In an 1874 issue of his magazine, he wrote: "O simplicity of the soul. who loves God, how great you are! In
you there is more light, efficacy and strength than in pretentious erudition.... May you, holy simplicity, reign
in all Christian families and houses of education. We would see a new, truly natural and vigorous
generation grow up before our eyes." Here he speaks not ava pious ascetic but one educating for true
humanity Simplicity, of course not only a natural virtue but also a supernatural one. He equated simplicity
with Christian humility. In a small notebook, he wrote this resolution: "I want to love God simply, as a child:
humbly, as a child.
The piety of our Founder was devoid of complexities, problems and complaints that today cause confusion
and disorientation of many in the religious-missionary life. The modern person tends to over-emphasize
culture, the arts, and freedom. He is inclined to criticize and deny, whereas a child is inclined to believe
willingly and to affirm. The modern person scrutinizes everything and philosophizes about it. Religious
matters to him are "questions" that need to be investigated with "methodic doubt." To the child they are
realities to which he surrenders trustfully and immediately. He is affected by the mysteries of faith, and it is
precisely these that fill his soul with holy reverence and real joy.
The modern person, on the contrary, wants to look behind the mysteries, turns them into problems,
speculates, and, not seldom, ends up in doubt. A further examination into childlikeness or simplicity will
show that erudition and higher education harmonize very well. Together they make people great and
lovable. In being childlike there is an element of reverence. Reverence cannot be defined or described just
as we cannot do it with love. joy, sadness or fear; rather, it is an experience. It has nothing to do with
anxious fear; it has something to do with respect, veneration and awe in what is good, true, and beautiful.
Reverence is an experience before that which is lofty, noble, and mysterious - experience in the presence
of all values in the natural order, of human dignity, life and death, honor and property. There is an
experience of reverence in excellent achievements and noble deeds. Its highest and noblest domain is
religion. About this. Goethe wrote: "In our pure bosom dwells a striving to give oneself willingly in
gratitude to one who is higher, purer, unknown, unraveling oneself to the unnamed one. We call
being pious."
Childlike reverence is the eye of the soul with which our Founder viewed everything: who God is and what
God has created, what comes from God and leads to God, in the natural as well as in the supernatural
spheres. To him, the world around us shows its relation to God from whom alone it receives dignity and
value. This childlike reverence generates a solemn religious mood and makes persons receptive to
impressions from the world of faith. The reverent person, in fact, has clearer eyes, looks more deeply and
accurately and discovers spiritual riches to which the irreverent person is blind.
Just as seeing is a function of the sense of sight, so believing is a function of the child's mind. The civilized
person in us asks and investigates and doubts: the child in us folds his hands trustfully and adores the
unfathomable and the mysterious. Thus, we also understand Jesus' demand: If you do not become like
children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Only the child finds the Father and arrives in his
kingdom: only a child's eyes are able to see the Father. The Father in heaven desires that all his sons and
daughters find him, not only the clever and the wise but also the little and the young. For this reason, the
Father gave them a mind to be able to know him and everything divine. You only need to look at the things
of the world and of life with s childlike disposition, then you will find God the Father.
This childlike mind is the foundation of the devotions and piety Father Arnold. He had a sense of wit and
humor and could laugh heartily with everybody. In religious matters, this childlike disposition filled h with
great reverence for all that is divine. He trusted in God and completely surrendered himself to God's Will
through intercessory prayers and many devotional practices.
A. Answer these questions:
1. What does childlike piety mean?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How did Fr. Arnold show this?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What were the great devotions of Fr. Arnold?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
B. Form triads and share answers/experiences to these questions
1. In what occasion's do you show being childlike?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. How do you feel being childlike on such occasion?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Course References:
Estiko, Leonardo R., SVD. Witness to the Word (Readings on St. Arnold Janssen and the SVD
Mission), LOGOS Publications, Manila, 2005.
• Soc Abellana, Esperidion S. et al., Witness to the Word: Growing in Love, University of
San Carlos Press, 2013.
Leonardo R. Estioko, Volume 2 Witness to the Word ( Readings on St. Arnold AND His Mission),
LOGOS Publications, Manila, 2007
• SVD Word in the World 1994/95. The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) reports on its
world-wide missionary activities. –Divine Word Missionaries: One Hundred Years in
North America 1895-1995, Steyler Verlag, Nettetal 19943, 239 pp
• Arnold Janssen 1837-1909, A pictorial Biography. Estella, Spain Editorial Verbo
Divino, 1987
• Aschem, Tom SVD, “Prophetic Dialogue from the XV to the General Chapter Advance,
• Difficulties and Challenges, which appeared in Verbum, VOL. 47 no. 1(2006) pp. 27-36
and a talk to the provincials of European zone, 2005
• Bastes, Bishop Arturo, Talk on Witness to the Word during the 3rd DWEA National
assembly, 2005, Tagay tay City
