MARCH

24

1835. Claret asks the bishop to allow him to take the exam for the Order of Presbyterate.

1854. Claret transfers the Most Holy Eucharist to the Cathedral of Santiago, Cuba, which was repaired after the earthquakes two years before. Claret wishes to do it with the utmost solemnity.

1855. In a series of instructions on how to organize the farm in Puerto Principe (Cuba), it is perceived that Claret is also concerned about the aesthetic aspects: in addition to captivating beauty, the farm would provide a great benefit.

EXPANSION (1906-1922)

ARGENTINA-URUGUAY AND BRAZIL, VICE-PROVINCES

In the year 1908, two independent Vice-Provinces were erected: Argentina-Uruguay and Brazil. In Argentina, Fr. Mariano Sahun was elected Major Superior in 1909. He devoted himself mainly to consolidating the previous foundations. His aim was to curb the push for external expansion and to concentrate more on strengthening religious life and observance, something that had been affected by so much dispersion, not always carried out with the necessary guarantees. However, foundations were also made in Goya (1911) and Mendoza (1912).

In Brazil, Fr. Joachim Bestue from Lisbon, was elected Vice-Provincial Superior, who soon promoted foundations in Bahia (1909), Belo Horizonte and Livramento (1911). They were very interested in extending to the north of the country, even though illnesses cut the first team that moved there in half. Fr. Joachim Bestue was unable to carry out his recognized capacity for governance for a long time, due to the illness that forced him to leave the office at the General Chapter of 1912. Fr. Ramon Genover was again entrusted to replace him.

SAINT OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO

Bishop Martyr (1917-1980)

Ciudad Barrios (El Salvador). Fourth metropolitan archbishop of San Salvador (1977-1980), he is famous for his defense of human rights and for having been assassinated while celebrating Mass. He had a great appreciation for the Congregation. In 1962 he described his first seven years of seminary with the Claretians: The Claretian Fathers and the seminarians were under the mantle of the Heart of Mary, a family whose spirit was that of the founder himself, Saint Anthony Mary Claret. The pages of that famous seminary manual El Colegial instruido [Well-Instructed Seminarian] were not only read, but lived. On his last trip to Rome, ten months before his murder, Mons. Romero visited the General Curia, where he wrote: Today I returned to my origins: I did my minor seminary in San Miguel (El Salvador) with the dear Claretian Fathers and celebrated my first Mass here on April 5, 1942. Thanks and blessings. May 3, 1979. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador. He was canonized on October 14, 2018 by Pope Francis.

The Means of Sermons

The Fourth Means: Sermons. Explaining points of doctrine serve to instruct the people; sermons serve to move them. Sermons should be chosen with the listener in mind. St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori calls some sermon topics, such as the last things, necessary, while he calls others optional. (Aut 294)

From the very beginning, the style I aimed at was that of the Gospel: simple and clear. To achieve this aim I made use of comparisons, likenesses, and examples from history and experience, most of them from Scripture. I had observed that one of the best attention-getters with all sorts of people, whether learned or ignorant, believers or unbelievers, was the use of comparisons drawn from things in nature. (Aut 297)

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

 

  • Do you spend time preparing your homilies with prayer, reflection and appropriate reading?
  • Are simplicity and clarity part of your preaching style?

 

“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love,
his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains:
everything is, as it were, a caress of God.”

(Francis, Laudato Si’, 84)

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