Blessed Hendrina Stenmanns

Hendrina Stenmanns, SSpS (Josefa in religion; 28 May 1852 - 20 May 1903) was a German Catholic religious sister who co-founded the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, which she founded alongside Arnold Janssen and Helena Stollenwerk. She was also a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis since 1871. Stenmanns was beatified on 29 June 2008 in the Netherlands. Pope Benedict XVI delegated Cardinal José Saraiva Martins to preside over the celebration on his behalf. Hendrina Stenmanns was born in Issum in the German Confederation in 1852 as the eldest of seven children to Wilhelm Franz Stenmanns (1821-1887) and Anna Maria Wallboom (1825-1 December 1878). During her childhood she became concerned for poor people and for those who suffered and visited them with her mother to provide them with both spiritual and material comfort. Stenmanns worked as a silk weaver after finishing school - which she began in the spring of 1858 - in order to contribute to the household income. Stenmanns became professed as a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis in 1871 due to feeling called to live a life for the poor - but she harbored an ardent desire for the monastic life. An aunt of hers was a member of that order. The German Kulturkampf - which sought to subjugate the church to state control - made religious life impossible so she had to put her plans to become a religious on hold. She promised her dying mother that she would look after her father and siblings. This - to her - was a sure sign that she would have to renounce the religious life. After a number of annual visits, Stenmanns relocated to the Netherlands on 12 February 1884. There she met Arnold Janssen who was in the process of establishing a house to train priests for the missions. Stenmanns felt called to support Janssen's work, and the priest accepted her request to serve at the mission house as a kitchen maid.