#st arnold janssen

[catholic-saint-tournament]

Modern Saint Bracket Announcement

Instead of waiting until Sunday, the modern bracket will open immediately after the post-schism bracket is over. This is the modern bracket, which will be followed by a final four, and then there will be even MORE polls (losers' brackets, Marian apparitions, we're going all summer baby.)

Catholic Saint Tournament Modern Bracket Round 1 Pairings:

St Therese of Lisieux vs St Elizabeth Ann Seton

St Padre Pio (of Pietrelcina) vs St Charles de Foucauld

St Maximilian Kolbe vs St Benilde Romancon

St John Bosco vs St John Neumann

St Mother Teresa (of Calcutta) vs St Arnold Janssen

St Jacinta Marto vs St Edith Stein

St Maria Goretti vs St Marianne Cope

St Charles Lwanga (& co) vs St John Vianney

St Oscar Romero vs St Josemaria Escriva

St Bernadette vs St Damian of Molokai

St Faustina vs St Catherine Laboure

St Mary MacKillop vs St Katharine Drexel

St Gemma Galgani vs St Frances Xavier Cabrini

St John Henry Cardinal Newman vs Pope St John Paul II

Pope St John XXIII vs St Mark Ji Tianxiang

St Francisco Marto vs Sts Louis & Zelie Martin (package deal)

You can still submit nominations for beatified folks, propaganda for your favorite saints, or other thoughts in the ask box! Or suggestions for future polls, questions, etc.

May the best saint win!

[rlim1908]

Landbank University of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City apacible st. - (02) 8986 6841 (fax)

Email: BR_UPDILIMAN@mail.landbank .com - the resumes are all here. I’m looking for priests, nuns, clerical, canon lawyers. - the following are acceptable: norbertines, Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, SVD (st. Arnold Janssen), claretians (must be loud & boisterous). Vatican News. - owned by the new Vatican state. (Straightjacketed by NATO) Must report a lot on the matter. RPN 9.The Filipino Times.

guys you may Fax the NATO court order to this fax number & the NATO enforced Martial Law order drafted by Beda homecare charity (local Benedictine religious order) & The Claretians (arm of University of the Philippines diliman & UST). - the VATICAN news was seized by NATO for Maiden RINA. Military necessity. International humanitarian law. Bought by Count Primo (Alexis b. Solis) for his wife Maiden RINA. Opus Dei (non Muslim terrorist) thru N. Schulze terrorist has been caught.

[lord-here-i-am]

Josef Freinademetz

gefeiert am 28. Januar

Der heilige Josef Freinademetz Missionar * 15. April 1852 im Weiler Oies bei Pedraces, im südtiroler Gadertal † 28. Januar 1908 in Taikia bei Tsining/Jining in Süd-Shantung, China

Josef stammte von der ladinisch-sprachigen Bevölkerung Südtirols. Seine Eltern waren einfache, tief im Glauben verwurzelte Bergbauern. In Brixen lernte er Deutsch und besuchte das Gymnasium, wo einer der Lehrer, ein missionsbegeisterter Augustiner, in ihm wie in anderen Schülern die Berufung zum Missionar weckte.

Doch zuerst studierte Josef in Brixen Theologie und wurde Priester der Diözese Brixen (1875). Als Kooperator (Kaplan) in St. Martin im heimatlichen Gadertal gewann er schnell die Herzen und die Hochachtung seiner Landsleute, besonders der Kinder. Als er von der Gründung des Missionshauses in Steyl erfuhr, bat er mit Erlaubnis seines Bischofs bei Arnold Janssen um Aufnahme. Nach acht Tagen Fahrt mit Bahn und zu Schiff über Innsbruck, München, Köln, Venlo kam er am 27. August 1878 in Steyl an der Maas an. Für den Sohn des Dolomiten-Tales war das schon eine Erfahrung von weiter Welt. An die andere Mentalität und Religiosität der Menschen im deusch-holländischen Grenzland musste er sich erst gewöhnen.

Anfang 1879 wurde Josef Freinademetz zusammen mit dem Bayer Johann Baptist Anzer in die Mission ausgesandt, die ersten Steyler Missionare. Am Weißen Sonntag, 20. April 1879 kamen sie in Hongkong an. Bischof Raimondi schickte Freinademetz auf die Insel Saikung, um die Sprache zu lernen und Volk, Sitte, Kultur und Mentalität der Menschen und Missionsarbeit kennen zu lernen. Knapp 2 Jahre dauerte diese Lehrzeit, dann erhielten die Steyler Missionare ein eigenes Missionsgebeit, den Süden der Provinz Chantung/Shandon, ein Gebiet etwa so groß wie Bayern mit circa 9 Millionen Einwohnern und einer kleinen katholischen Gemeinde von etwa 173 Gläubigen im äußersten Nordwesten des Gebietes. Anzer wurde der Obere der Mission. Freinademetz wurde Wandermissionar. Anzer schickte ihn immer wieder in andere, sehr unterschiedliche Gegenden seines Gebietes, um dort mit der Missionierung zu beginnen. Durch das enge Zusammenleben mit den einfachen, meist armen Menschen lernte Freinademetz nicht nur die Sprache gut kennen (er musste einen völlig neuen Dialekt lernen), sondern auch die alte Kultur der einfachen Bevölkerung, ihr Denken, ihre Sitten - er lernte die Chinesen lieben. War anfangs sein Urteil über die Chinesen sehr hart gewesen, so schätzte er sie jetzt über alles, obwohl er auch ihre schwachen Seiten sehr scharf sah. Er wurde - soweit das überhaupt möglich ist - einer von ihnen, obwohl er sich gleichzeitig lebenslang mit seiner ladinischen Heimat eng verbunden fühlte.

Freinademetz war zu 100% Missionar und setzte alles, was er war und was er hatte, für die Bekehrung seiner geliebten Chinesen ein. Er arbeitete hart und gebrauchte alles, was die Spiritualität seiner Zeit ihm als Hilfe anbot: intensives und langes Beten, auch nachts, Fasten, Sich-Kasteien und in allem - seine Liebe. Er suchte sich mit größter Gewissenhaftigkeit ans seinem Vorbild, dem Herzen Jesu (sein Name für Jesus Christus), zu schulen; selbst für einen lieblosen Blick bestrafte er sich selbst hart.

Steyl sandte immer neue Missionare nach China, und viele Missionsstationen erstanden. Nach Anzer wurde Freinademetz Provinzoberer der Steyler Missionare in China und war wohl der einzige, der alle Stationen besucht hat. Anzer war Bischof geworden, und wenn er nach Europa reisen musste, vertrat ihn Freinademetz, sechsmal insgesamt. Freinademetz arbeitete hart, auch als der Typhus sich stark bemerkbar machte, er arbeitete, bis es nicht mehr ging, und dann bereitete er sich auf seinen Tod vor.  Viel wurde von Missionaren und Gläubigen um seine Heilung gebetet. Als sein Tod gemeldet wurde, begannen viele, nicht nur für ihn zu beten, sondern auch zu ihm, um seine Fürsprache bei Gott.

Zusammen mit dem Gründer des Steyler Missionswerkes Arnold Janssen wurde Josef Freinademetz am 19. Oktober 1975 selig gesprochen und am 5. Oktober 2003 heilig gesprochen.

"Mögen nur Kreuze auf uns herabregnen, sie es dem Himmel gefällt, wenn nur Gott nicht aus unseren Herzen schwindet."

"Liebe ist die einzige Sprache, die alle Menschen verstehen."

[eternal-echoes]

May the darkness of sin

and the night of unbelief vanish

before the light of the Word and

the Spirit of grace.

And may the heart of Jesus live

in the hearts of all.

Amen.

- St. Arnold Janssen

[anastpaul]

Our Morning Offering - 28 January - Quarter-Hour Prayer

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – Quarter-Hour Prayer

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time, Year A and the Memorial of Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest – Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word

On the Feast Day of St Joseph Freinademetz, let us pray St Arnold’s daily Quarter-Hour Prayer

Quarter-Hour Prayer By St Arnold Janssen (1837-1909), Founder of the…

[iquote]

"It is not lengthy prayers, but generous deeds that touch God's heart." - St. Arnold Janssen

[angels-roses]

Since love completes all, makes hard things soft, and the difficult easy, let us strive to make all our acts proceed from love.

St. Arnold Janssen

[todayclassical]

February 08 in Music History

1586 Birth of composer Jacob Praetorius. 

1708 Birth of Italian composer Pasquale Cafaro. 1709 Death of Italian composer Giuseppe Torelli, at age 50, in Bologna.

1710 FP of Alessandro Scarlatti's opera La Principessa Fedele at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples.

1741 Birth of French composer André Grétry in Liège. 

1810 Birth of German composer Norbert Burgmüller in Düsseldorf. 

1849 Death of French composer, violinist, conductor, François-Antoine Habeneck.

1875 Birth of tenor Leon-Pierre Campagnola in Marseilles.  

1875 Birth of soprano Janina Korolewicz-Wayda in Warsaw.  

1875 Birth of soprano Georgette Leblanc in Tancarville. 

1879 Birth of soprano Mizzi Günther in Warnsdorf, Bohemia.  

1888 Birth of Dutch composer Matthijs Vermeulen in Helmond. 

1894 Birth of pianist Rosita Renard in Chile. 

1900 Birth of baritone Laurens Bogtman in Oudkarspel, Holland. 

1903 Birth of soprano Bela Rozumova in Pribram.

1904 Death of soprano Malvina Garrigues. 

1904 FP of Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in Helsinki. Helsingfors Philharmonic conducted by the composer. Victor Novácek as soloist. 

1906 Birth of Polish-American pianist Arthur Balsam. 

1906 Birth of bass-baritone Ferdinand Frantz in Cassel.  

1907 FP of Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 with the Rosé Quartet and members of the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna. 

1908 FP of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, composer conducting, in St. Petersburg. 

1909 Death of Polish composer Mieczyslaw Karlowicz.

1910 FP of A. Webern's Five Movements, Op. 5, for string quartet, in Vienna. 

1911 Birth of bass Gerhard Frei in Breslau. 

1912 Birth of soprano Ilona Steingruber in Vienna. 

1912 Birth of Russian-born Swiss pianist Nikita Magaloff in St. Petersburg. 1914 Birth of Italian tenor Giacinto Prandelli in Lumezzane. 

1915 Birth of English conductor and musicologist Newell Jenkins. 

1921 Death of baritone Francisco D'Andrade.  1925 FP of Henry Cowell's Ensemble the original version for strings and 3 American Indian 'thunder-sticks. Sponsored by the International Composers' Guild at Aeolian Hall in NYC. 1925 FP of Miaskovsky's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7, in Moscow. 1928 Birth of Welsh harpist and composer Osian Ellis. 1932 Birth of American composer, conductor and pianist John Williams in NYC.  1934 Birth of Dutch soprano Elly Ameling in Rotterdam.

1935 Birth of bass Tugomir Franc in Zagreb.   1938 Birth of baritone Marco Bakker in Beverwijk, Holland.  1940 Birth of American composer Margaret Brouwer. 1940 Birth of American composer Talib Rasul Hakim. 1941 Birth of American composer, flutist and composer Kay Goodman in Freeport, NY. 1941 Birth of tenor Kosuke Taguchi in Tottori, Japan.  1942 FP of Igor Stravinsky's Danses concertantes. Werner Janssen Orchestra of Los Angeles, composer conducting. 1943 Birth of American composer John Heilman Schooley in Nelson, PA. 1943 Birth of baritone Malcolm Donnelly in Sydney.  1946 FP of Bela Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3 finished by Tibor Serly. Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting. György Sándor, soloist.  1947 Birth of soprano Elke Schary in Beuthen.  1948 Birth of English baritone Stephen Roberts.  1953 Birth of English violinist Irvine Arditti. 1959 FP of Elie Siegmeister's Symphony No. 3, in Oklahoma City. 1961 Death of soprano Luisa Villani. 1963 FP of Benjamin Lee's (Lysniasky) Violin Concerto, in Boston. 1973 FP of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I for amplified piano, in New York.  1976 Death of soprano Gladys Moncrieff.  1983 Death of tenor Charles Kullmann. 1985 FP of Earle Brown's Tracer for six instruments and four-track tape, in Berlin. 1986 FP of Daniel Pinkham's Symphony No. 3. Plymouth Philharmonic, Rudolf Schlegel conducting in Plymouth MA. 1998 Death of tenor Gino Penno.  2001 FP of Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra's Concerto for Orchestra. Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. 2013 Death of American conductor James DePreist in Arizona.

2017 Death of tenor Nicolai Gedda.

[phgq]

FEATURE: Homeless find temporary home amid COVID

#PHinfo: FEATURE: Homeless find temporary home amid COVID

Stay at home. A constant reminder for all in the midst of a global pandemic due to the dreaded coronavirus disease or simply known as COVID-19. 

The De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila serves as a temporary sanctuary to the homeless during the enhanced community quarantine. (Photo courtesy of DLSU)

But for a homeless, where is home?

Recently, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) lauded Catholic schools in Manila for opening their doors and sharing a piece of ‘home’ to the homeless.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Manila’s apostolic administrator, said more Catholic schools have opened their facilities for the street dwellers.

As the pandemic continues, Pabillo said that the homeless can take refuge in the schools, especially during the enhanced community quarantine period in Metro Manila and the whole of Luzon.

The Malate Catholic School, Espiritu Santo Parochial School and the Holy Trinity Academy have opened their doors for the street dwellers.

The Bishop assured the public and students that all necessary precautions were taken to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We strictly follow the requirements of the Department of Health and the World Health Organization,” said Pabillo.

The bishop also said that the SVD-run Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center is coordinating the transfer of the homeless to their schools where they can be taken care of.

“The center and its volunteers provide for the basic needs of those who are taking shelter at the said schools,” he added.

The Paco Catholic School also accommodated several homeless families under the care of Fr. Luke Mortgart.

Earlier, dozens of homeless people sought refuge at the campuses of the De La Salle University, its sister school College of Saint Benilde, and the St. Scholastica’s College in Manila.

Aside from caring for the street dwellers, Pabillo said that the Nazarene Catholic School will also accommodate the healthcare workers from San Lazaro Hospital.

“We laud this gesture of our school directors to provide quarters to the homeless and street dwellers, and health workers where they can be safe and secure,” Pabillo said.

Being homeless is first and foremost a poverty issue that disproportionately affects a number of Metro Manila families and individuals. With the service of providing basic shelter in time when government implements strict isolation measures, these schools hope to support these families and individuals achieve well-being and, perhaps, self-sufficiency until everything goes back to normal.  (PIA-NCR)

***

References:

* Philippine Information Agency. "FEATURE: Homeless find temporary home amid COVID." Philippine Information Agency. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1037487 (accessed March 30, 2020 at 12:52PM UTC+08).

* Philippine Infornation Agency. "FEATURE: Homeless find temporary home amid COVID." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1037487 (archived).

[catholic-saint-tournament]

About St Brigid of Ireland

About St Arnold Janssen

Losers' Bracket Round 1

[inanews-blog1]

Cerita Istri Thomy, Petugas KPPS di Surabaya yang Meninggal Diduga karena Kelelahan

Inanews - Satu lagi petugas Kelompok Penyelenggara Pemungutan Suara (KPPS) Kota Surabaya, meninggal dunia. Petugas KPPS itu adalah Thomy Heru Siswantoro (46). Ia gugur diduga karena kelelahan usai bertugas di Tempat Pemungutan Suara (TPS) 019, Kelurahan Pacar Keling, Tambaksari, Surabaya, pada gelaran Pemilu 2019. Istri Thomy, Maria Magdalena Lastri (46), menceritakan, suaminya itu bekerja 24 jam saat hari pemungutan suara. Dia berangkat pagi pukul 06.30 WIB pada Rabu (17/4/2019) dan baru pulang ke rumah Kamis (18/4/2019) pukul 06.30 WIB. "Jadi, bapak bekerja 24 jam," kata Maria, ditemui di rumah duka di Karanggayam Teratai Nomor 24, Tambaksari, Surabaya, Kamis (25/4/2019). Menurut Maria, malam hari sebelum suaminya itu pulang, ia sempat membelikan nasi bungkus untuk Thomy. Namun, nasi yang ia beli untuk suaminya itu tidak dimakan. Nasi itu, kata Maria, tergeletak di meja makan rumahnya. Setelah bertugas di TPS pada Rabu (17/4/2019), Maria mengira suaminya akan pulang sekitar pukul 22.00 WIB. "Tapi ketika saya bangun pagi-pagi, nasinya masih ada. Ternyata (Thomy) belum datang," ujar dia. Maria menyebut, ayah Arnold Janssen Joemantoro Duta Pratama (16) itu, baru pulamg pada Kamis (18/4/2019) pagi. Suaminya itu sempat mengeluh sesak nafas, namun tidak mau diajak berobat ke dokter. Thomy berusaha meyakinkan Maria bahwa sakit yang diderita adalah sakit biasa. "Jadi, cuma minum obat dan saya kerokin. Karena katanya cuma masuk angin akibat kelelahan," ujar dia. Namun, pada Senin (22/4/2019), kondisi Thomy juga tak kunjung membaik. Maria pun membawa suaminya ke klinik di sekitar rumah. Di klinik itu, dokter suaminya diberikan obat. Tiga hari berselang atau pada Kamis (25/4/2019) pukul 04.00 dini hari, Thomy kembali mengeluh sesak nafas dan membangunkan Maria dan mengeluh dadanya sesak. Kemudian, Maria langsung membawa Thomy ke UGD Rumah Sakit Katolik ST Vincentius a Paulo atau RKZ Surabaya dan diopname. Menurut Maria, hasil pemeriksaan dan diagnosa dokter, Thomy disebut mengalami pembengkakan di bagian jantung, hingga Thomy meninggal pada Kamis (25/4/2019) pagi. "Jantungnya difoto bengkak, setelah difoto kejang-kejang. Dipacu jantungnya sudah enggak bisa," kata dia. Jasad Thomy saat ini sudah disemayamkan di Tempat Pemakaman Umum (TPU) Karanggayam Teratai, Surabaya, tak jauh dari rumahnya. Sebelum Thomy, sudah ada dua orang petugas KPPS di Surabaya yang meninggal dunia. Salah satunya Badrul Munir, petugas KPPS di TPS 19 Kedung Baruk, Badrul Munir dan Sunaryo, petugas KPPS di TPS 13 Kapas Madya. Selain itu, ada pula 17 orang petugas KPPS yang tengah menjalani perawatan di sejumlah rumah sakit di Kota Surabaya. Read the full article

[sakrumverum]

dominik: Hier wird Verwirrung gestiftet

<div class="pf-content"><p style="text-align: justify;">„stadt gottes“, das Magazin der Steyler Missionare bringt in der Ausgabe Nummero zwei/Februar 2019, auf Seite drei und vier unter „Leserforum“ – „Hier kommen Sie zur Wort – Fragen, Meinungen, Anregungen“, den Artikel „Evangelisch – und bei der Erstkommunion dabei?“<br /> Zu Wort kommt Pater Fabian Conrad SVD. Er wird als „Experte für Seelsorge“ und als „Bibelwissenschaftler, Seelsorger, Schulrektor des Arnold-Janssen-Gymnasiums in St. Wendel“ vorgestellt.<br /> Pater Fabian Conrad stellt zunächst das katholische Eucharistieverständnis korrekt dar: „Es gibt derzeit offiziell von katholischer Seite keine Mahl- und Opfergemeinschaft zwischen der katholischen und evangelischen Kirche… Fakt ist jedoch, dass das Eucharistieverständnis beider Kirchen sich unterscheidet. Der Hauptunterschied ist: Die katholische Kirche glaubt an eine bleibende Wandlung des Brotes in den Leib des Herrn. Einmal konsekriert bleibt das Brot, die Hostie, der Leib des Herrn. Im evangelischen Verständnis ist es die Gemeinschaft, die die Präsenz des Herrn garantiert. Die versammelte Gemeinde macht den Herrn präsent im Brot. Hat sich die Gemeinschaft aufgelöst, ist das geweihte Brot nichts weiter als Brot. …spätestens seit den Trauerfeierlichkeiten für Papst Johannes Paul II. muss der ganzen Welt klar sein, dass auch ein gläubiger evangelischer Christ die katholische heilige Kommunion empfangen kann. Während dieser Feier sahen Millionen Menschen den späteren Papst Benedikt XVI. auf Frère Roger Schütz (Taizé) zugehen und ihm die Kommunion reichen… Diese Geste setzte er willentlich, als wollte er sagen: ‚wer an unseren gemeinsamen Herrn glaubt…der gehört auch an den gemeinsamen Tisch‘“.<span id="more-9831"></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Die „große Selbstverständlichkeit und die Geste“, die der spätere Papst Benedikt XVI. „willentlich gesetzt“ haben soll, ist eine falsche Behauptung von Pater Fabian Conrad. Dem Zeitbeobachter fällt dabei ein, dass in den kontroversen Debatten in Deutschland über den Kommunionempfang konfessionsverschiedener Ehepaare dieses „Argument“ nicht auftaucht. Das konnte auch nicht sein, wie der Fundamentaltheologe Prof. Dr. Dr. Anton Ziegenaus auf Anfrage verdeutlicht hat. Dem damaligen Kardinal Ratzinger unterlief, als er Frère Roger Schütz die Kommunion reichte, ein Irrtum, den er auch danach aufgeklärt hat, nämlich, Frère Roger Schütz sei zur katholischen Kirche konvertiert. Kardinal Ratzinger hat den gültigen Katechismus der katholischen Kirche (KKK) hauptverantwortlich im Auftrag von Papst Johannes Paul II. redigiert. Dort heißt es in Ziff. 1400: „Die aus der Reformation hervorgegangenen, von der katholischen Kirche getrennten Gemeinschaften haben ‚vor allem wegen des Fehlens des Weihesakramentes die ursprüngliche und vollständige Wirklichkeit des eucharistischen Mysteriums nicht bewahrt‘ (UR 22). Aus diesem Grund ist für die katholische Kirche die eucharistische Interkommunion mit diesen Gemeinschaften nicht möglich…“.<br /> Pater Fabian Conrad SVD sollte sich erkundigen, was Lehre der Kirche ist und was der damalige Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation Joseph Ratzinger in der Frage der Kommunion an Frère Roger Schütz klar gestellt hat, bevor er unnötige Verwirrung stiftet.</p> <p>Hubert Gindert</p> <p>Artikel erscheint auch in der Monatszeitschrift „Der Fels“</p> </div>

--Quelle: http://blog.forum-deutscher-katholiken.de/?p=9831

[eternal-echoes]

“Proclamation of the Good News is the first and most significant expression of love for one’s neighbor.”

- St. Arnold Janssen

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 28 January – Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word, the First Saint to Ever Serve in Hong Kong, Missionary to China, St Joseph had an immense devotion to Eucharistic Adoration – born on 15 April 1852 in Pedraces in Val Gadena, the Tyrolean Alps, Italy and died on 28 January 1908 in Taikia, China of tuberculosis and typhus.   St Joseph is also known as Giuseppe Freinademetz, Joseph of Shantung, Jozef Freinademetz,  Ujoep (nickname), “the Saint of Charity” and his Chinese name “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest.

Joseph Freinademetz was born on 15 April 1852, in Oies, a small hamlet of five houses situated in the Dolomite Alps of northern Italy.   The region, known as South Tyrol, was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it is now part of Italy.   He was Baptised on the day he was born and he inherited from his family a simple but tenacious faith.

Birthplace of St Joseph in Oies

While Joseph was studying theology in the diocesan seminary of Bressanone (Brixen), he began to think seriously of the foreign missions as a way of life.   He was ordained a priest on 25 July 1875 and assigned to the community of Saint Martin very near his own home, where he soon won the hearts of the people.   However, the call to missionary service did not go away.   Just two years after ordination he contacted Fr Arnold Janssen, the founder of a mission house which quickly developed into the Society of the Divine Word.

With his Bishop’s permission, Joseph entered the mission house in Steyl, Netherlands, in August 1878.   On 2 March 1879, he received his mission cross and departed for China with Fr John Baptist Anzer, another Divine Word Missionary.   Five weeks later they arrived in Hong Kong, where they remained for two years, preparing themselves for the next step.   In 1881 they travelled to their new mission in South Shantung, a province with 12 million inhabitants and only 158 Christians.

Those were hard years, marked by long, arduous journeys, assaults by bandits and the difficult work of forming the first Christian communities.   As soon as a community was just barely developed, an instruction from the Bishop would arrive, telling him to leave everything and start anew.

Soon Joseph came to appreciate the importance of a committed laity, especially catechists, for first evangelisation.   He dedicated much energy to their formation and prepared a catechetical manual in Chinese.   At the same time, together with Anzer (who had become Bishop) he put great effort into the preparation, spiritual formation and ongoing education of Chinese priests and other missionaries.   His whole life was marked by an effort to become a Chinese among the Chinese, so much so that he wrote to his family:  “I love China and the Chinese. I want to die among them and be laid to rest among them.”

In 1898, Freinademetz was sick with laryngitis and had the beginnings of tuberculosis as a result of his heavy workload and many other hardships.   So at the insistence of the Bishop and the other priests he was sent for a rest to Japan, with the hope that he could regain his health. He returned to China somewhat recuperated, but not fully cured.

When the Bishop had to travel outside of China in 1907, Freinademetz took on the added burden of the administration of the diocese.   During this time there was a severe outbreak of typhus.   Joseph, like a good shepherd, offered untiring assistance and visited many communities until he himself became infected.   He returned to Taikia, the seat of the diocese, where he died on 28 January 1908.   He was buried at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross and his grave soon became a pilgrimage site for Christians.

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Freinademetz learned how to discover the greatness and beauty of Chinese culture and to love deeply the people to whom he had been sent.   He dedicated his life to proclaiming the gospel message of God’s love for all peoples and to embodying this love in the formation of Chinese Christian communities.   He animated these communities to open themselves in solidarity with the surrounding inhabitants.   And he encouraged many of the Chinese Christians to be missionaries to their own people as catechists, religious, nuns and priests.   His life was an expression of his motto:  “The language that all people understand is that of love.” … Vatican.va

He was beatified 19 October 1975 by Pope Paul VI and Canonised by St John Paul II on 5 October 2003, on which occasions he said:

” “And they went forth and preached everywhere” (Mk 16: 20).   The Evangelist Mark ends his Gospel with these words.   He then adds that the Lord never ceases to accompany the activity of the Apostles with the power of His miracles.   Echoing these words of Jesus, the words of St Joseph Freinademetz are filled with faith:  “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.”   With the tenacity typical of mountain people, this generous “witness of love” made a gift of himself to the Chinese peoples of southern Shandong.  For love and with love he embraced their living conditions, in accordance with his own advice to his missionaries:   “Missionary work is useless if one does not love and is not loved.”   An exemplary model of Gospel inculturation, this Saint imitated Jesus, who saved men and women by sharing their existence to the very end.”

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St Arnold Janssen’s life here: https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/15/saint-of-the-day-15-january-st-arnold-janssen-svd-1837-1909/

Saint of the Day – 28 January – Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest. Saint of the Day - 28 January - Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word, the First Saint to Ever Serve in Hong Kong, Missionary to China, St Joseph had an immense devotion to Eucharistic Adoration - born on 15 April 1852 in Pedraces in Val Gadena, the Tyrolean Alps, Italy and died on 28 January 1908 in Taikia, China of tuberculosis and typhus.   

[iquote]

"Never will we understand the value of time better than when our last hour is at hand." - St. Arnold Janssen

[jannepriscilla]

Channeling my inner Tony #13reasonswhy (at St. Arnold Janssen Chapel, USC Talamban Campus)