SAINT ANTHONY MARY CLARET
Spanish Light of the Church
[Feast day: October 23]

In December of 1850, St. Anthony Claret was saying good-bye to friends in
Spain before leaving to take charge of the Archdiocese of Santiago, Cuba.
At dawn one day he took a stagecoach to go to visit the Archbishop of
Tarragona.  When the coach drew into Villafranca del Panades, about seven
A.M., all the priests of the town were there to meet it and begged
Archbishop Claret to interrupt his journey and come to their aid.  As soon
as he heard their story he dismounted and sent word to his host that he had
met with a delay.

Four criminals were to be executed there that morning -- three boys in their
late teens and a man of forty -- and all four had absolutely refused to
confess and receive Communion.

The pastor of the town pressed Archbishop Claret to have a quick cup of hot
chocolate and hurry over to the prison.  No, said the Archbishop, they must
first go to the church and place the affair in God's hands.  When they had
done this, they went to the prison, and the missionary was at once admitted
to see the condemned men.

St. Anthony Claret's warm, fatherly pleas soon conquered the three younger
criminals.  They made their confessions, and the chaplain prepared to
administer them Viaticuм, the last Communion.  He asked the young men,
according to the custom, if they forgave all who had injured them.  Two
replied yes.  The third said yes, he forgave everyone except his mother.
Archbishop Claret prostrated himself and kissed the boy's feet.  "My son,"
he said, "if you do not pardon your mother you will be damned.  For God's
sake and for my sake I beg you to forgive her." "No," the young man said,
"it is on her account that I am in this trouble.  If she had punished me in
time I would not be here.  I do not forgive her."  The four prisoners were
covered with execution robes, mounted on mules, and led to the scaffold.
The moment before his sentence of death was carried out, the unforgiving
youth shouted, "I forgive my mother from my heart.  Pray for me!"  Then the
older man, the toughest of the four, held up his arms and asked to confess.
Seated on the bench, with his head covered, he confessed and was absolved.
Then the four men were put to death.  Some time after, God revealed to
Anthony Claret the judgment the four had received.  In a public conference
he emphatically stated: "The four criminals of Villafranca were saved."

The life of St. Anthony Mary Claret is full of such striking variety that a
rapid glance scarcely reveals the thread that links everything he did.  This
19th-century saint was a missionary, a religious founder, an organizer of
the lay apostolate, a social reformer, a queen's chaplain, a prophet and
wonder-worker, a writer and publisher, an Archbishop, and a promoter of
devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  What, then, is the thread that
ties together these and the many other aspects of his career? A clue is to
be found in the episode of the four criminals of Villafranca - an episode
like hundreds, like thousands of others in his lifetime.  The thread of
unity, the dominating force of his life was his apostolic drive. St. Anthony
Claret had a quenchless thirst to rescue souls.

EARLY LIFE

This zeal for the salvation of souls showed up very early in his life. One
night in 1813, when he was only five, he had just said his prayers and
climbed into bed when a sober thought struck him.  He sat up, serious and
still, heedless of the iron bars of the bedstead pressing into his back.
The day before, in catechism class, he had learned that in hell there is
eternal fire and that many sinners are condemned to go there.  This
observant boy had already seen that there are many in this world who
suffer - the poor, the aged, the sick.  He did not want people to suffer.
So tonight as he was about to close his eyes the thought of the suffering in
hell came back to his mind.  He began conjuring up pictures of long ages of
time, of ages and eons of tremendous duration, throughout which the
sufferings of the damned must continue.  But the endlessness of it he could
not grasp. This fearful realization stamped itself on his memory for life.
With it came the lasting desire to save souls from such a fate.

Anthony was the fifth of the seven children of Juan and Josefa Claret. He
was born on Christmas Eve, 1807, in the village of Sallent, in Catalonia,
Spain.  As a child he was remarkable for his piety, modesty and obedience.
He took great delight in receiving and visiting the Blessed Sacrament, in
making pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fusimanya, near his village,
and in reciting the rosary.  Notwithstanding his piety, the boy was harassed
by two severe temptations.  The one, against chastity, he simply resisted.
More recurrent was a curious urge to rebelliousness against his mother and
against his Heavenly Mother Mary - a cruel mental torment provided by Satan.
Over this, too, through prayer, patience and humility, he eventually
triumphed.

>From the beginning Anthony wanted to be a priest.  His seminary life was
exemplary and he was ordained on June 13, 1835.  He resolved never to waste
a moment of time and during his 35 years as a priest he wrote 144 books and
preached some 25,000 sermons.  On one trip, besides traveling, he preached
205 sermons in 48 days, 12 in one day.  To make sure his efforts might be
recognized for what they were, he started off by reminding his hearers that
the ordinary motives for labor are money, pleasure or honor. But these were
not his motives:"...  not money, for I do not want a cent from anybody...
Nor do I preach for pleasure, for what pleasure can I possibly take in
spending myself all day, in being fatigued from early morning until late at
night?...  I must be in the confessional most of the morning, the whole of
the afternoon; and in the evening, instead of resting, I have to preach.
This is not just for a day, but...  for months and years...  Perhaps I labor
for honor...  no, not for honor either...  A preacher is exposed to many
calumnies.  If praised by one, he is misunderstood by another, treated as
the Jєωs treated Jesus, Who was calumniated by maligners of His person, of
His words and works, before they finally seized, scourged and killed Him by
a most painful and shameful means.  But like the apostle St. Paul, I fear
none of these things, since I value my soul more than my body.  At any cost
I must discharge the ministry I have received from God Our Lord, which is to
preach the Gospel...  I have no worldly end in view, but...  that God may be
known, loved and served by all the world...  that sins and offenses against
Him may be hindered as much as possible...  Another thing that spurs me on
to preach ceaselessly is the thought of the multitude of souls which fall in
the depths of hell...  Who die in mortal sin, condemned forever and ever...
I see how many live habitually in mortal sin, so that never a day passes
without increasing the number of their iniquities.  They commit sin as
easily as they drink a glass of water, just for diversion, or for a laugh.
These unfortunate ones run to hell of their own accord, blind as bats...  If
you were to see a blind man about to fall into a pit or over a precipice,
would you not warn him? Behold, I do the same, and do it I must for this is
my duty... You may tell me that sinners will insult me, that I should leave
them alone...  Ah no, I can't abandon them.  They are my dear brothers.  If
you had a beloved brother who, sick and in the throes of delirium, were to
insult you with all the angry words imaginable, would you abandon him? I am
certain you wouldn't.  You would have even more compassion for him, do your
utmost for his speedy recovery.  This is how I feel in regard to sinners.
These poor souls are in a delirium and the more in need of our pity...  You
may say the sinner doesn't think of hell, nor even believe in it.  So much
the worse for him.  Do you by chance think he will escape condemnation
because of his unbelief? Truth is independent of belief...  I must warn
sinners and make them see the precipice which leads to the unquenchable
fires of hell, for they will surely go there if they do not amend their
ways.  Woe to me if I do not preach and warn them, for I would be held
responsible for their condemnation...  How often I pray, with St. Catherine
of Siena: 'O my God, grant me a place by the gates of hell, that I may stop
those who enter there saying: Where are you going, unhappy one? Back, go
back! Make a good confession.  Save your soul. Don't come here to be lost
for all eternity!" Further he boldly proclaimed: "The sole reason why
society is perishing is because it has refused to hear the word of the
Church, which is the word of life, the word of God.  All plans for salvation
will be sterile if the great word of the Catholic Church is not restored in
all its fullness."