The Arnoldus Family across the Australia Province celebrated the SVD’s 148^th Foundation Day this month, with confreres, Holy Spirit Sisters and lay partners coming together in prayer and thanksgiving.

SVD Foundation Day falls on September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the date on which St Arnold Janssen founded the Society of the Divine Word in Steyl, Holland in 1875. St Arnold also went on to found the Holy Spirit Sisters and the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters.

Every year, the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its founding day on 8 September, which coincides with the Nativity of Mary. This year marks the 144th anniversary since St. Arnold Janssen formally established this missionary society, which presently has over 6,000 members serving in more than 80 countries around the world. I am writing this reflection from Thailand, where the Society has made its presence since exactly 20 years ago.

Unlike the founding day of our Society, we do not know the actual date on which the Blessed Virgin Mary was born. If I am not mistaken, despite the countless apparitions of Mary around the world over the centuries, she has never revealed this little piece of information to us. However, the Church has chosen a particular day in the liturgical calendar in order to celebrate Mary’s birthday, just as the Church has done the same with the birthdays of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

SVD confreres joined with Holy Spirit Sisters, lay partners and staff earlier this month to celebrate Foundation Day at the Marsfield community in Sydney.

The day, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, marked the 144th anniversary of the founding of the Divine Word Missionaries by St Arnold Janssen in Steyl, Holland, in 1875, and was celebrated at SVD communities throughout the AUS Province and around the world.