Society
Of The Divine Word

We continue the celebration of the Jubilee for the 150th anniversary of the foundation of our Society with the theme: “Witnesses to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone.” In this celebratory context, we will dedicate the outer corridor of the Collegio del Verbo Divino to the Mother of the Incarnate Word in the World.

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary accompanied Saint Arnold Janssen throughout his life. He entrusted the foundation of the Society to her protection, choosing the feast of her Nativity (September 8, 1875) as the official opening day of the Mission House in Steyl. Mary is considered the Mother of the Society of the Divine Word. Saint Arnold also founded the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit and the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration during the Marian Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1889 and 1896).

Providence has aligned the inauguration date of the corridor dedicated to the Mother of the Incarnate Word in the World with the Consistory during which two of our confreres, Ladislav Nemet and Isao Tarcisio Kikuchi, were named cardinals. This Sunday, December 8, as we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the two new SVD cardinals will bless four statues of the Mother of God, each representing one of the four zones where the Missionaries of the Divine Word work: Europe, America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa-Madagascar. The first two statues come from Bali (Indonesia) and Kenya, while the second pair comes from Steyl (Netherlands) and Latin America, respectively.

The blessing will take place in the outer corridor of the Collegio del Verbo Divino at 3:00 PM.

CVD