The first verses of the Gospel according to St. John solemnly state the tragic rejection by man of his own GOD who came to save him. "THE WORD was GOD..... He was in the world.....made through Him....and His own received Him not".

The language and painful truth of St. John's lines sparked in the heart of the young Arnold Janssen the zeal to proclaim the Word so that the world may finally and fully accept it. As a priest, his passion for the Word increased in intensity and knew no bounds.

In his writings, the cry for renewal, unity in the Faith and propagation of the Word turned the wilderness of the world into fields ready for the harvest. It was his vision to fashion an instrument that would put the Word into flesh in the lives of men.

His unceasing prayers and determined invitation for more missionaries finally shaped the instrument he had been working for. On September 8, 1875 in most humble beginnings, he formed a new missionary congregation - the Society of the Divine Word. From that time on, this Society has labored to make the Word incarnate in the world. It has slowly immersed itself deep into human society, and through prayers and work has tried to make itself worthy of the instrument Fr. Janssen dreamed about.