| Blessed
Arnold Janssen was born on November 5, 1837,
in the Diocese of Münster, in Germany.
After his ordination to the priesthood he
dedicated himself to the teaching and the
spread of the devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus and of the missionary spirit among
the German speaking peoples of Europe. Full
of zeal for the Kingdom of God he consecrated
all of his energies to the formation of priests,
sisters and lay people so that he could send
them to evangelize, especially among peoples
who did not know Christ. For this purpose
he founded the Society of the Divine Word
in Steyl, Holland, and the missionary Congregations
of the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
and of the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
of Perpetual Adoration. These Institutes,
wisely guided and formed by their Founder,
grew rapidly and carried on a fruitful apostolate
in various countries. The Blessed, rich in
merits and surrounded by a solid and widespread
reputation for sanctity, fell asleep in the
Lord on January 15, 1909.
On October 19, 1975, during the course
of the Holy Year, the Supreme Pontiff Paul
VI proclaimed him Blessed together with
Blessed Joseph Freinademetz, Priest and
Religious of the Society of the Divine Word,
missionary in China.
Recently the Postulator of the Cause, taking
into account the desire of many of the faithful
who looked forward to the canonization of
Blessed Arnold, submitted for judgement
to this Congregation for the Causes of Saints
a presumed miracle which took place in Baguio
City, Philippines. The case concerns a fourteen
year old girl, Pamela Avellanosa, who at
about 2:00 p.m. of January 2, 1995, fell
from her bicycle, suffering a grave cranial-encephalic
trauma. Admitted to hospital several hours
later after losing consciousness, she was
diagnosed as being in a profound coma, with
pupilar mydriasis and respiratory arrest
after a period of grave respiratory difficulty.
In the intensive care unit she was intubated
and placed on assisted respiration. Initially,
the doctors, seeing the profound state of
the coma and the gravity of the situation,
concluded that a surgical procedure would
be useless; but, then, at about 7:30 p.m.
of that same day, without the necessary
physical tests, they went ahead and performed
a craniotomy on the right side revealing
a very large epidural hematoma which was
removed. The doctors feared for the girl's
life and, in the event that she survived,
they predicted very grave aftereffects from
the injury and even a vegetative state.
Meanwhile, from about 6:00 p.m. onwards
the grandmother of Pamela and the Sisters
Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual
Adoration had begun to invoke the intercession
of Blessed Arnold to obtain from God the
girl's healing. And in fact, she rapidly
began to improve until she had reached complete
recovery. In 1999 the Apostolic Vicariate
of Baguio opened up a diocesan investigation
into the presumed miracle, an investigation
which was recognized as juridically valid
by this Dicastery with the Decree of April
7, 2000. The Medical Commission, in its
meeting of April 18, 2002, admitted that
the cure was rapid, lasting and scientifically
unexplainable. On October 8, 2002, there
was a special Session of the Consulting
Theologians. On November 19, 2002 there
was the ordinary Session of the Curial Fathers,
Cardinals and Bishops, in the presence of
the Relator of the Cause, Most Rev. Giuseppe
Coppa, Titular Archbishop of Serta. In both
Sessions, that of the Consulting Theologians
as well as that of the Cardinals and Bishops,
to the question as to whether in this case
one could speak of a genuine and authentic
miracle, the response was affirmative.
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