Janssen was born 5 November 1837 in Goch in the Rhineland, Germany, not far from the Dutch border, one of eleven siblings. He developed a deep, simple faith. His first school was the Catholic Augustinianum High School in Gaesdonck, which is near his birthplace. He took up the study of philosophy at the Academy of Munster, and then entered the University of Bonn. As a student in the university, Janssen entered a mathematics contest; he used the prize money to treat his father to a trip to the university and down the Rhine River;. Janssen was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Muenster on 15 August 1861. For a while he worked as a high school teacher in Bocholt, Germany, teaching physics and catechism. He devoted some years to pastoral work and the teaching of Christian doctrine, in 1873 becoming chaplain and director at the Ursuline convent of Kempen. In 1867 he became the diocesan director of the Apostleship of Prayer. This led to the founding in 1874 of the German language journal Kleiner Herz-Jesu Bote, which looked to enlist the faithful in prayer and support for the mission. The Kulturkampf, however, hampered his efforts, and Janssen purchased land in Steyl, the Netherlands, to begin his seminary, dedicated in 1875 as the "St. Michael the Archangel Mission House". Within a few years, many seminarians, priests and brothers were preparing there for missionary service, and the first two missionaries, Joseph Freinademetz and John Anzer, were sent to Hong Kong at the request of Monsignor Raimondi. The Society of the Divine Word received canonical approbation in 1901. From the very beginning, a group of women, including Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwerk, served the community. Janssen also founded two congregations of Religious Sisters: The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters on 8 December 1889, and the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters on 8 September 1896. Arnold Janssen died at Steyl, Holland, on January 15, 1909.
Veneration
Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz, along with Daniele Comboni were canonised on 5 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II. Janssen was elevated to sainthood after the healing of Pamela Avellanosa, a Filipina teenager living in Baguio who fell from a bike and was not expected to recover from the resulting head injury. According to her relatives and the Catholic Church, she was healed miraculously following prayers to Janssen. In his hometown of Goch, the Arnold-Janssen-Church and the Arnold-Janssen-Community are named after Janssen. His birthplace can be visited in the Arnold-Janssen-Street. The St. Arnold neighborhood in Neuenkirchen, Westphalia, has an Arnold-Janssen High School. It was founded 1929 by his religious community, but since 1996 it has been administered by the Diocese of Münster. The Arnold-Janssen High School in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, is also named for him, as is the Arnold-Janssen-Hauptschule in Bocholt.
