ST JOSEPH FREINADEMETZ, PRIEST - 28 JANUARY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 28th of January

WELCOME!

ST JOSEPH FREINADEMETZ, PRIEST 

Joseph Freinademetz was born on April 15, 1852, in  Badia, which was then in the County of Tyrol, a part of the Austrian Empire. He was the fourth of 13 children of Giovanmattia and Anna Maria Freinademetz, who were poor farmers.

HE VISITED THE MISSION HOUSE

A pious child and youth, he entered the major seminary and was ordained a priest for the Brixen Diocese on July 25, 1875. His initial assignment was to be a teacher. But soon an article in the local diocesan newsletter about the new Mission House at Steyl, Holland, founded by Fr Arnold Janssen caught his attention. Joseph went to visit the Mission House. 

HE AND HIS COMPANIONS SAILED TO CHINA

In 1878, he joined the group at Steyl and received training as a missionary. Barely a year later Joseph Freinademetz SVD sailed to China on the mission. In 1881, the Mission House had received its own mission territory, the Province of Shandong. Joseph was so devoted to his mission that from his arrival, he never left China.

A STRONG PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE

As so many apostles have always reiterated, the foundation of their mission work is first and foremost a strong personal prayer life. He said his daily Mass and prayed his Divine Office with intense dedication.

HE WAS CONSIDERED A SAINT

During the Boxer Rebellion two Divine Word Missionaries were martyred. He remained at his mission post. Well before his death, the Chinese people and others with whom he worked recognised him as a saintly man for his humility, for his firm yet gentle approach to his work, and for his total love of his people. He later was appointed the Provincial for the Society of the Divine Word. 

HE HELPED TO CARE FOR THE SICK

There was an outbreak of typhus at this time, and he helped wherever he could, until he himself became infected. He returned to Daijiazhuang, South Shandong, where he died from typhus on January 28, 1908. He was buried in Daijiazhuang, at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross.