| Saint Anthony Mary Claret (Antoni Maria Claret)
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Saint Anthony Mary Claret |
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| Founder of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary | |
| Born | December 23, 1807 Sallent, Catalonia, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | October 24, 1870 (aged 62) Fontfroide, Narbonne, France |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | February 25, 1934, Rome by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | May 7, 1950, Rome by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Vic |
| Feast | October 24 October 23 (local calendars and among Traditional Roman Catholics) |
| Attributes | Bishop's gown , Staff , an Open Book , Catechism , 2 Students beside him at his side and having his bent arm pointing to the sky |
| Patronage | Textile Merchants, Weavers, Savings (taught the poor the importance of savings), Catholic press, Claretians Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Diocese of the Canary Islands , Claretian Students , Claretian Educators and Claretian Educational Institutions,Technical and Vocational Educators |
Anthony Mary Claret (Catalan: Antoni Maria Claret i Clarà; Spanish: Antonio María Claret y Clará) (December 23, 1807 – October 24, 1870) was a Catalan Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop and missionary, and was confessor of Isabella II of Spain.
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Antoni Maria Claret i Clarà was born in Sallent, Bages comarca, near Barcelona, on December 23, 1807, the son of a small woollen manufacturer. He received an elementary education in his native village, and at the age of twelve became a weaver. Later he went to Barcelona to specialize in his trade, and remained there until he was twenty. Meanwhile he devoted his spare time to study and became proficient in Latin, French and engraving.
Recognizing a call to religious life, he left Barcelona. He wished to become a Carthusian but finally entered the seminary at Vic in 1829, and was ordained on June 13, 1835, on the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, his namesake. He received a benefice in his native parish, where he continued to study theology until 1839; but as missionary work strongly appealed to him, he proceeded to Rome. There he entered the Jesuit novitiate but had to leave due to ill health. He then returned to Spain and exercised his pastoral ministry in Viladrau and Girona, attracting notice by his efforts on behalf of the poor.
Recalled by his superiors to Vic, he was engaged in missionary work throughout Catalonia. In 1848 he was sent to the Canary Islands where he gave retreats for fifteen months. On his return to Spain, he established the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (The Claretians) on the feast of "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" (July 16, 1849), and founded the great religious library at Barcelona which was called "Librería Religiosa" (now "Llibreria Claret"), and which has issued several million cheap copies of the best ancient and modern Catholic works.
His labors bore fruit: Pope Pius IX, at the request of the Spanish crown (Queen-regnant Isabella II of Spain), appointed him Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba in 1849. He was consecrated at Vic in October 1850 and embarked at Barcelona on December 28. Having arrived at his destination, he began at once the work of thorough reform.
The Santiago seminary was reorganized, clerical discipline strengthened, and over 9,000 marriages validated within the first two years of his arrival. He erected a hospital and numerous schools. Three times he made a visitation of the entire diocese, giving local missions incessantly. His zealous works stirred up much opposition in the anti-clerical mood of the period, as had happened previously in Spain. No fewer than 15 attempts were made on his life, and at Holguín his cheek was slashed from ear to chin by a would-be assassin's knife.
In February, 1857, Claret was recalled to Spain by Queen Isabella II, who made him her confessor. He obtained permission to resign his Cuban see and was appointed to the titular see of Trajanopolis. His influence was now directed solely to help the poor and to propagate learning; he lived frugally and took up his residence in an Italian hospice. For nine years he was rector of the Escorial monastic school, where he established a scientific laboratory, a museum of natural history, a library, college and schools of music and languages. His further plans were frustrated by the Revolution of 1868.
He continued his popular missions and distribution of books wherever he went in accompanying the Spanish Court. When Isabella recognized the new, secular government of a united Italy, he left the Court and hastened to take his place by the side of the Pope; at the latter's command, however, he returned to Madrid with faculties for absolving the queen from the censures she had incurred for this.
In 1869 he went to Rome to prepare for the First Vatican Council. Owing to failing health he withdrew to Prada de Conflent in the French Pyrenees, where he was still harassed by his Spanish enemies; shortly afterwards he retired to the Cistercian abbey at Fontfroide, Narbonne, southern France, where he died on October 24, 1870, aged 63.
By his sermons and writings he contributed greatly to bring about the revival of the Catalan language, although most of his works were published in Spanish, especially during his stay in Cuba and Madrid.
His printed works number more than one hundred, including "La escala de Jacob"; "Máximas de moral la más pura"; "Avisos"; "Catecismo explicado con láminas"; "La llave de oro"; "Selectos panegíricos" (11 volumes); "Sermones de misión" (3 volumes); "Misión de la mujer"; "Vida de Sta. Mónica"; "La Virgen del Pilar y los Francmasones."
Claret's "Autobiografia," written by order of his spiritual director, may be read in pdf format.[1]
In addition to the Claretians, which in the early 21st century had over 450 houses and 3100 members, with missions in five continents, Archbishop Claret founded or drew up the rules of several communities of Religious Sisters.[2]
His zealous life and the wonders he wrought, both before and after his death, testified to his sanctity. Information was sought in 1887 and he was declared Venerable by Pope Leo XIII in 1899. His relics were transferred to the mission house at Vic in 1897, at which time his heart was found incorrupt. His grave is visited by many pilgrims, and he is one of few saints known to have been given the privilege of literally carrying the Blessed Sacrament in his heart ("Autobiografia", p. 694).[1]
Anthony Mary Claret was beatified in Rome by Pope Pius XI on February 24, 1934. He was canonized sixteen years later by Pope Pius XII on May 7, 1950. St Anthony Mary Claret's liturgical feast was included in the General Roman Calendar in 1960 by Pope John XXIII, and fixed on October 23.[3] Owing to the reform of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1969, his feast was moved to October 24, the day of his death. Some local calendars as well as Traditional Roman Catholics continue to celebrate his feast day on October 23.[4]
Many educational institutions ranging from kindergarten to high school are named after Claret and run by the Claretians in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. They are located in Catalonia (Barcelona, Valls and Sabadell), rest of Spain (Madrid,[5] Gran Canaria,[6] Sevilla,[7] Valencia[8]), Colombia (Cali), Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo), Peru (Trujillo, Huancayo, Arequipa and Lima), Argentina (Buenos Aires[9] and Bahía Blanca), Venezuela (Caracas,[10] Maracaibo and Mérida), Equatorial Guinea (Malabo), Chile (Temuco[11]), Costa Rica (Heredia[12]), the Philippines (Zamboanga City[13], Quezon City[14]), and India (Ziro[15], Bangalore[16]).