The Holy Spirit Sisters, also known as the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters or, more formally, the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, are a Catholic religious congregation founded in the Netherlands by Saint Arnold Janssen in 1889. Maria Helena Stollenwerk and Hendrina Stenmanns were the first leaders of the congregation, and acknowledged as co-foundresses. Helena Stollenwerk also became a co-foundress of the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters as well as a male missionary congregation known as Divine Word Missionaries. The Holy Spirit Sisters are rooted in Trinitarian spirituality. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, and in collaboration with clergy and laity, they live and proclaim the Gospel. Their ministries include the fields of adult and children's education, health, pastoral care, spiritual guidance, catechetics, chaplaincy work, social work, administration and interfaith dialogue. The congregation's primary founder, Arnold Janssen, was a Catholic priest from Goch, Germany, near the Dutch border. Ordained a priest in 1861, he purchased land in Steyl, the Netherlands, to begin his seminary, which was dedicated in 1875 as Saint Michael the Archangel Mission House, and within a few years several seminarians, priests and brothers were being prepared for missionary service there. He founded the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters in 1889 and, with Helena Stollenwerk, he founded the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, also known as Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, in 1896. He was canonized in 2003 by Pope John Paul II, on the basis of his miraculous healing, after prayers to Janssen, of a Filipino teenager who had suffered a serious head wound and was not expected to recover. The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters are a Roman Catholic religious institute of contemplative cloistered nuns, who are sometimes known as the Pink Sisters because of their rose-colored habits. The congregation and the religious institute are appropriate for this category.
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Continuing the mission of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, inspired by Father Arnold Janssen, the Catholic not-for-profit provider of residential care for the aging and independent retirement living in Brisbane, Australia is one of the largest and oldest aged care facilities in Australia. Holy Spirit Home is in Carseldine, just north of Brisbane, and Viridian Retirement Village is at Boondall, just a little further north of Brisbane.
http://www.holyspirit.com.au/
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters in the USA
The Missionary Sisters are a Catholic religious congregation founded by Saint Arnold Janssen in 1889. In the United States, the Missionary Sisters have three locations in Illinois: Northfield, Rogers Park and Waukegan, as well as locations in Epworth, Iowa; Memphis, Tennessee; and New York, New York. Its ministries are highlighted, and its formation process is set forth, along with contacts.
http://www.ssps-usa.org/
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, Australia and Fiji
Eighteen Holy Spirit Sisters, survivors of the Japanese prison camps and death ships, arrived in Brisbane, Australia in 1944, joining five others who had come earlier. The Archbishop of Brisbane invited them to remain and open a Novitiate house, which became the first Holy Spirit Convent in Australia. A history of the Holy Spirit Sisters and their work in Australia and Fiji is put forth, including its projects and programs.
http://holyspiritsisters.org.au/
Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, Papua, New Guinea
Based on Trinitarian spirituality, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit Sisters first came to Tumleo Island in 1899, in response to a request for help from the first Divine Word Missionaries to the South Seas, who had arrived three years earlier. A brief history of the Holy Spirit Sisters and their work in New Guinea is given, and an overview of its formation process is included.
http://pngssps.org/
The Holy Spirit Sisters, Tanzania
The Society of Holy Spirit Sisters has a center in the Kilimanjaro Region in Tanzania, which was established in 1964 by the Rev. Bernhard Bendel of Germany. Its history and biographies of its founders are put forth, and an overview of its projects and programs are included, along with photographs. Information for girls in Tanzania who are interested in becoming a Holy Spirit Sister is presented.
http://www.theholyspiritsisters.org/
Founded by Arnold Janssen, Helena Stollenwerk, and Hendrina Stenmanns in 1889, the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit is a religious missionary community dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Biographies of its founder and co-founders are presented, along with a history of the Missionary Sisters, period photographs, and links to its worldwide mission countries, and several articles about the Sisters and their work.
https://www.worldssps.org/
