SVD-Module-1-Q1 PDF - Prophetic Dialogue with Arnold Janssen

Divine Word College of Calapan SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, 5200, Philippines Prophetic Dialogue with Arnold Janssen Spirituality (Rel. Ed. 3) Q1 A. WITNESSING TO THE WORD I...

Divine Word College of Calapan SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, 5200, Philippines Prophetic Dialogue with Arnold Janssen Spirituality (Rel. Ed. 3) Q1 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 express and appreciate the spirituality of Arnold Janssen through the School’s VMG. 2. To Shares in Christ’s mission of spreading God’s words through the inspiration of St. Arnold Janssen. I. A PORTRAIT OF ST. ARNOLD Part I: His Physical Features, Habits and Mannerisms We usually compile in photo albums, display in picture frames and keep even in our wallets photos of people whom we love. "No one who really loves another person feels ashamed of the loved one's appearance and character." When we were young, we had to boast and even had to fight it our that "My father is the best. He's no. 1." in spite of his moral weaknesses or physical defects if any. Oliver Cromwell told the artist working on his portrait: "Pains me as I am. If you leave out the scars and wrinkles I will not pay you a penny." He feared that the artist would paint him like one of the king's favorites, with well proportioned features and smooth glowing cheek, and would leave out the features that gave him character: the passing of years, the wars he fought. the sleepless nights, his concerns, his regrets. There are preserved photographs of our Founder when he was young middle aged, and old. Which one appeals to you most? Here I would like to paint a portrait of Arnold Janssen as he was, as was known by the founding generation, and as he would want to be known today. Like Cromwell, Arnold Janssen did not like that his photograph be retouched. This "portrait" should be understood as his "external appearance" including everything concerning his person which the senses can observe. Arnold was look-alike of his mother Catherine. This is quite obvious if we compare their photos. Every year, on the anniversary of his ordination of August 15, his mother visited him in Steyl. She never went to any of the departure ceremonies or any other occasion. While visiting her son she was permitted in the corridors and parlor. She never entered Arnold's room and she always slept outside the mission house. She always dressed up in the same style she wore during Arnold's youth, although older, she seemed to remain physically unchanged though. When she died in 1891, the top class was allowed to attend her funeral at Goch. Father Arnold was then 54 when Steyl was already established and St. Gabriel's Seminary in Vienna was being built. Amold was 164-cm tall (5 feet 5 inches). The townsfolk of Steyl referred to him as the little Prussian:" a bishop called him a little fellow." He was shorter than John and William (the Capuchin Bro. Junifer), John, the youngest, was tall and slender. He died of TB in 1898 at age 45. William, Gerhard, and Peter all outlived Arnold. They seldom went to Steyl, much less his sister Gertrude who remained unmarried and lived in Kempen. Arnold did not speak openly about his parents, not even about the people of his hometown. It is not known from which of his parents he inherited his susceptibility to pneumonia. At middle age he suffered attacks of it, although it was not the cause of his death in 1909. During severe attacks in 1884 85, an Our Father for him was added to the evening prayers which became a regular practice. He did not ask for it, somebody else did the initiative. Anyway, he was grateful, Photographs taken in his youth reveal that Arnold was well formed. He had a slender figure with a frame neither too large nor too small. Although he could impress women with his well proportioned built and his talents. his eyes were unappealing Later his gaze became mellower but it always had great seriousness especially when he looked at someone inquisitively He normally spoke with others with closed eyes, Doing so helped him to maintain calmness and self-control. His blond eyebrows.and eyelashes.contrasted with his brown eyes From about 1886 onward, his face became broader and his eyes differed considerably. The right eye became smaller and lower than the left eye. The general aspect of his face had the appearance one would expect to see as a result of paralysis after a stroke. His early photos further showed the strong features of a teacher with a lively but firm look. Later his face lost the severity of the teacher and took the benevolent look of a father. In later years one could even say that his features had a spiritual appearance. He did not wear eyeglasses, but he needed them for distant vision. He used the ordinary oval-shaped lenses in a steel frame and would not wear any other kind, especially not with the gold frame, His lips were not prominent. They were, in fact, quite thin and hinted seriousness and determination. When he rejected something unimportant, he would curl his lower lip. II. A young Arnold He always kept his laughter under control. He called it "the light of the soul." When he laughed it was with an open mouth but not loud. The fact is that he seldom laughed and seldom did he make others laugh. But he enjoyed laughing on special occasions, like the celebration of his name's day. Arnold had short, well-formed, chubby, and soft hands. Despite a lot of writing with a steel pen and ink, his hands always remained clean. At times he wrote with a quill. About his penmanship, his writings were small and scratchy. It would be interesting to analyze his character through his handwriting. His hair was light blond that later became white. It lost its youthful abundance in the later years of his life. It was neither thick nor curly rather it was straight and soft. As was customary in the Society, he wore it short The students took care of cutting his hair and shaving him. Arnold was endowed with a broad nose that in later years became a prominent aspect of his features. With broad and uneven eyes, the facial symmetry he enjoyed in his youth became distorted. This is perhaps due to an operation in 1889 when a lump was removed from his left eye. In his old age, Father Arnold was the exact copy of St. Vincent de Paul minus the beard. At age 60, others had to convince him to have a ser of dentures, but without gold as was the custom. However, he allowed members of the Society to have gold teeth. He had difficulty chewing bread crust with his new teeth. He would soak the bread and then eat it with a knife. During morning and afternoon coffee breaks he used his large red handkerchief as napkin. His companions rather tried to put a napkin beside his cup. He did not touch it and said nothing Deep within him, he seemed to have said. "Children, allow an old man to do things in a manner he is accustomed. I appreciate your good intentions." At coffee break during summer the sun shone on his place at table. Someone would close the curtain to give him shade. Arnald at 16-cm was called "the little Prussian" Each time he would say, "Let the sun shine in." For 20 years, however, the sun never shone in his room. At table he ate quickly and did not attract attention. He did not have the English manner of eating with knife and fork. He hardly spoke while eating and did not look up. He did not use toothpicks but always had a glass of water at hand. Sometime in the mid-1880's, someone in the community complained about the great consumption of butter, which they could have easily done without. It was estimated that about DM40,000 were spent annually. He responded: "Our young people need fat in order to grow strong. Butter is a good supplier of fat and so I am in favor of them having it." He also once said: "For reasons of health, a lot of sugar should be used in the kitchen since sweet things are nutritious. There is a saying: One always has the voice that matches one's character. Arnold did not have a booming and powerful voice, not a manly throat with the right resonance as that of an orator or debater He had a somewhat soft voice. Even when he was excited it would not be sharp or rude. Like his brother Gerard he inherited the high pitched voice of his mother. He never fully lost the accent of his hometown Goch. Bur in all fairness it must be said that his speech was not without feeling. He did not use meaningless catchwords or expressions and never used strong language or unrefined expressions. III. Arnold's mother He knew that he was not a good speaker, he acknowledged the fact. One time, when giving a conference in the dining room on humility and modesty, he said: "The Lord God, to preserve one's humility, gives each one of us an imperfection that remains with us Obviously he included himself, that is, his lack of ability as speaker Nevertheless, he admonished members that i they should not believe that they alone had good ideas or unusual ways of expressing them in their preaching and writing It is often said that he was a poor singer. In spite of this, he gave great value to singing. In order to celebrate the High Mass on feast days he would practice with the choir. In his 60’s his memory began to fail him so that in conferences there were often embarrassing pauses. At times, with his mouth closed he would take two short and audible breaths through his nose. He had frequent fits of sneezing during which he would keep his mouth closed. Father Arnold did not use a special tag for his clothing. The brother who took care of his room always saw to it that his clothing was in good condition. He did not wear an overcoat at Steyl during winter. He wore an overcoat or a hat only when travelling. He left the second and third buttons of his cassock open so he could easily take his watch and pencil since he did not wear a wristwatch. Others picked up this habit. However, it upsets strangers. After all, buttons are there for a purpose. It took some time before a tailor introduced a small outside pocket for the watch or train ticket. He did not wear his watch nor had a chain. It was the custom of the younger members to have chains while the older ones did not. In his room and during exams, Father Arnold would lay his watch on the table in front of him. While preaching he wore the biretta and a surplice. These did not look good on him. He looked horrible with the biretta low on his forehead. He always removed it for the quarter-hour prayer. Only once during his time at Steyl did he travel to Berlin in a cassock. That was when he had to visit government officials. When so dressed he aroused pity for he looked so impoverished. Questions for Discussion: Answer these questions: 1. What was Fr. Arnold like during the early part of his life? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What was he like as he was getting older? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why does the article say he changed for the better as he was getting older? 4. Why was he then considered impersonal and authoritarian? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ B. How do you compare yourself today and when you were younger in terms of character and knowledge? What factors motivated you to be the character you are now? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 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