Society of the Divine Saviour

Bl. Francis Jordan SDS
OUR FOUNDER

It was Gurtweil, a small place in southwestern Baden, just a few kilometers from the district town of Waldshut, close to the Swiss border, that became the hometown of Father Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan, founder of the Salvatorians. Father Jordan was born on June 16, 1848, second son to Lawrence and Notburga nee Peter. On the following day he was baptized at the local parish church with the name John Baptist.

Being brought up in a poor family, he was not able to realize his dream of becoming a priest, although as a teenager he had already become aware of his vocation at the moment of his First Communion. After finishing primary school he worked as a laborer and painter-decorator, traveling in what was then Germany.