MARCH

05

1851. Claret begins the mission in Santiago, Cuba, which will last twenty days. He preaches in the cathedral, and Fr. Manuel Vilaro, in the church of San Francisco.

1865. Claret starts a mission in the Church of the Pious School of San Fernando (Madrid). Some have advised him against preaching because they believe that his life is in danger. The persecution had intensified. However, it was very successful.

1865. Claret allows for the formation of a choir in the Academy of St. Michael in Medina de Rioseco (Valladolid).

THE CONSOLIDATION (1899-1906)

THE RELIGIOUS VOCATION

In 1902, on his name day, Fr. Clement Serrat published a beautiful circular letter to the Congregation entitled La Vocacion Religiosa, in which he aimed to awaken feelings of gratitude in everyone, reminding them of the benefit of the divine vocation. At the same time, he invited fidelity and imitation of the Master through three means: the first and foremost humility and meekness. These are two typical virtues of the Claretian Missionary, a motivated, profound and personalized humility, sincere and well-founded; religious must be aware of the sacrifice and self-denial that it implies. The second virtue is a patient charity, which helps to understand one’s brother, his character and his temperament, his pain and suffering, avoiding hardness and harshness with him, and leads towards a call to the responsibility that each one has for the vocation of their brother. And, finally, unity in the spirit with the bond of peace. If the previous means tends to encourage mutual charity among the brothers, considered individually, this one considers them collectively, forming a whole.

PEDRO NAUDO

Collaborator of Claret (1801-1882)

Enveig (Cerdanya, France). He entered the seminary in Barcelona. An enlightened man, simple and full of zeal, he was the beneficiary and administrator of the parish of Santa Maria del Mar, in Barcelona. There he founded several pious and charitable works. He was an intimate friend and representative of Father Claret for many years, well respected and known for his character and virtues. Bishop Rosendo Salvado gave him special charge of the Australian missions. He died in Barcelona on March 4, 1882. In a letter from Naudo to Claret in 1870, he said: My nephew Xifre is useful to me. But it is not known whether Xifre was his nephew, surely it was a copy error. Because of the many letters between Claret and Naudo we can understand the trust that Claret professed to him. He was the one who supplied books and mailings for him and others from the Libreria Religiosa in Barcelona. In 1879 he wrote of Claret: Claret’s whole life is admirable. God, in his time, will do what is necessary for his beatification

Biography

Bodily and Spiritual Physician

After I had settled in the parish of Viladrau as regent, I did my best to care for the spiritual welfare of the people. On Sundays and feast days I explained the Gospel in the morning at the main Mass, and in the evening, I taught catechism to children and adults of both sexes. I visited the sick daily. As Viladrau was not a fortified town, the opposing political factions seized control of it from time to time. Because doctors are usually public figures, they were so harassed by all the factions that they were eventually forced to move, and so the town was left without a single doctor. (Aut 170)

Thus I had to become not only the spiritual but also the bodily physician of the people, on the basis of my general knowledge and consultation of the medical books I procured. When some doubtful case arose, I would look it up in my books, and the Lord so blessed my remedies that none of those I visited died. And so the word got around that I was healing people, and the sick came in from various places around. (Aut 171)

FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

 

In the absence of doctors, Claret does not hesitate to attend to the sick with natural medicine and prayer.

  • In your apostolic life do you have a relationship with the sick?
  • How do you relate the human and the spiritual in your missionary service?

 

“I want to remind priests that the confessional
must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best.”

(Francis, Evangelii gaudium, 44)

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