FEBRUARY

07

 

1845. Claret is preaching during Lent in Mataro (Barcelona).

1853. Claret directs a lively defense to the Captain General of Cuba about the apostolic action of the slandered Capuchin Fr. Esteban de Adoain, and, incidentally, the other missionaries.

1867. Fr. Carmelo Sala, his former chaplain and now a canon of Cadiz serves as a link for the distribution of books, which at present is one of the means that the mercy of God is providing.

EARLY EXPANSION (1870-1899)

THE FAMOUS PAINTING FROM THUIR

In 1871 the Jesuit Brother Sebastian Galles, who had requested to stay in our house in Thuir (France), painted the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, called Thuir, for the novices’ chapel and donated it to the Congregation. After a bizarre and not entirely clear history, the painting arrived in Italy, probably to be reproduced. In 1934 the painting was placed on the main altar of the crypt of the Basilica of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome. In 1952, once the Basilica was inaugurated, the painting was placed on the main altar of the great basilica. This painting would later be used for the processions around the Basilica on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1955 the painting from Thuir was replaced by a mosaic inspired by it and the painting was placed permanently in the chapel of the recently inaugurated General Curia, in an arched niche where today it is displayed for the veneration of the community.

BLESSED PIUS IX

Pope (1792-1878)

Senigallia (Italy). He was elected Pope in 1846. He had to face the Italian question and years later the Roman question. In the year 1848 he had to take refuge in Gaeta and Portici. He was able to return to Rome in 1850. He experienced a fall from temporal power in 1870. He proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and published the Syllabus. He celebrated the First Vatican Council (1869-1870), which defined pontifical infallibility. On November 7 and 23, 1865, he received the Fr. Founder at an audience to gather information about the Constitutions and his relationship with the Queen of Spain after the recognition of the Kingdom of Italy. On April 24, 1869 he received Claret again. He summarized Claret’s behavior in this way: I saw Bishop Claret, and I recognized in him a worthy clergyman; a man dedicated to God, and, although detached from politics, knows only too well its lack of feverishness and the malice of men who are Catholics only by name.

The Importance of Spiritual Accompaniment

My older brother John married Mary Casajuana, the daughter of Maurice Casajuana, whom the bishop of Vich had placed in charge of collecting the rents of certain properties and seigniories in Sallent. This man was very highly esteemed by the bishop and frequently went to see him. On one of these visits, he spoke of my insignificant self. Who knows what it was he said, but it caused the bishop to want to meet me. (Aut 80)

I was told that I should go to Vich, but I didn’t want to because I was afraid that he might upset my plans for becoming a Carthusian, a life that I yearned for so much. I told my teacher this and he answered, I’ll go with you to see a Father of the Oratory, Father Canti, a man of wisdom, prudence, and experience, who will tell you what you should do. We presented ourselves to the good father, and after hearing all my reasons for not going to Vich, he told me, Go, and if the Lord Bishop knows that it is God’s will that you enter the Carthusians, far from opposing you, he will be your protector. (Aut 81)

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

 

  • Is your missionary life informed by searching for God’s will?
  • What role does spiritual accompaniment play in this regard?
  • What trust do you have in human mediations for the discernment of God’s will?
  • List and thank the people who have guided you in the ways of the Lord.
  • Who walks with you as a “spiritual director”?

 

“Our faith demands of us a certain sparingness in use,
and the Church is obliged to live and administer its own goods
in such a way that the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor.
If instead the Church appears to be among the rich
and the powerful of this world its credibility is diminished.”

(Justitia in Mundo, 47).

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