Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Saint Anthony Mary Claret realised a personal vocation in the Church, animated by a strong ecclesial
sensitivity, an apostolic spirit, and an ardent love for Mary.

With an acute sensitivity to the timely, urgent and effective, and a clear option for the poor, the least,
and the consecrated, he responded to urgent needs of the Church, and the world of his time: as
preacher in popular missions in Spain; as founder of religious congregations in order to expand his
missionary work; as missionary bishop of Cuba.

He was also a writer and publisher of many religious books, pamphlets, and other publications in
order to promote evangelisation.  Today, his ideals and missionary lifestyles can be shared by many
others to serve the needs of the Church and the world.

Anthony Claret was born on December 23, 180
7 in Sallent (Barcelona), Spain.  On June 13, 1835 he
was ordained Priest.

On July 16, 1849, he founded the Congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(CMF), also known as Claretian Missionaries.  On October 16, 1850 he is consecrated Archbishop of
Santiago, Cuba; he founded the Claretian Missionary Sisters  on August 25, 1855.  He was
nominated Confessor of the Queen of Spain in 1857.  After participating in the First Vatican Council,
Claret died in Fontfroide, France on October 24, 1870.  Pope Pius XII declared him Saint on May 7,
1950.


Claretian Co-Founders

Together with St. Anthony Mary Claret in laying the foundations of the congregation were Fathers
Stephen Sala, Joseph Xifre, Dominic Fabregas, Manuel Vilaro, and Jaime Clotet.  They met in the
Seminary in Vic, Spain on July 16, 1849 to start what Claret had envisioned as a great enterprise.

Fr. Joseph Xifre: He was Superior General from 1858 to 1899.  When he took charge, there was only
one house wiyh sixteen members.  When he died in 1899, there were sixty communities, 1,368
professsed members, and 108 novices.

Fr. Jaime Clotet:  In 1858, he was elected sub-director general, a post he occupied until 1888.  He
played a significant role in the formation of students.  He was almost uninterruptedly superior of the
novitiate and scholasticate in Vic, Thuir, and Santo Domingo.  He died in 1898.

Fr. Stephen Sala:  Before Archbishop Claret left for Cuba he appointed Fr. Sala to  succeed him as
director of the new Institute.   He governed the Congregation from 1850 to 1858.  He died in April 18,
1858 in Barc3elona, Spain.

Fr. Manuel Vilaro:   Archbishop Claret took Fr. Vilaro with him to Cuba to be his secretary.  He was
able to serve the Archbishop only for a short period due to poor health.  He died in 1852 at an early
age.

Fr. Domingo Fabregas:  An outstanding member of the first Claretian community dedicated his whole
life to preaching parish missions and retreats.  He died in 1895


WHO IS A CLARERTIAN MISSIONARY?

The Claretian, through their missionary work, prayer and study, try hard to mold in their mind and heart
the image of the true and perfect “Claretian Missionary” as pictured and lived by their Father and
Founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret.  He wrote:

    
  “A son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flame
wherever he goes.  He desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set everyone on fire
with God’s love.  Nothing daunts him: he delights in privations, welcomes work, embraces sacrifices,
smiles at slander, rejoices in all the torments and sorrows he suffers, and glories in the cross of
Jesus Christ.  His only  concern is how he may follow Christ and imitate him in praying, working,
enduring, and striving constantly and solely for the greater glory of God and the salvation of
humankind.” (Autobiography of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, N. 494).
                                  
                          
      In 1861, St. Anthony Mary Claret sent to Fr. Jose Xifre the “Definition” or pattern of a Claretian
Missionary.  This spiritual document, summary of Claret’s deep missionary spirituality, was known by
the first group of Claretians and passed it on from group to group.  Now tis spiritual document is not
only in our fundamental constitution but it is part of the life style that each Claretian missionary and
each Claretian community wants to live out.


WE ARE MISSIONARIES

      Evangelisation which is the ministry of the Word is the special calling of the Claretians among the
people of God.  We are Servants of the Word of God according to the style and the spirit we have
inherited from our founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret.  According to this special calling, to carry out our
mission implies to live following Christ the evangeliser in an evangelised and evangelising community
through the witness of our life in creativity, love and joy.


      From this point of view, our concrete options as Claretian Missionaries are:

•        For missionary evangelisation;
•        For a more culturally related evangelisation;
•        For a prophetic and liberating evangelisation;
•        For an evangelisation from the viewpoint of the poor and the needy; and
•        For an evangelisation that multiplies evangelising leaders.

     And the
preferential targets of our mission are:

•        The non-Christian and the de-Christianised: the Claretians have opted to reinforce their
        presence wherever the Gospel has not been heard yet.
•        The poor: the voiceless, the deprived, the marginalised, and the oppressed.
•        The consecrated and the new evangelisers: the Claretians follow a participative model of Church
        where clergy and faithful are actively involved.  
•        The youth: who will be the protagonists of the future.
•        The family: joining up with the Church to help the family be a
domestic church, making it both a
        recipient and an agent of evangelisation.


CLARETIAN SPIRITUALITY

      Claretian missionaries live their spirituality rooted in these dimensions: a profound experience of
God as Father; a living of our divine sonship in conformity with Christ, who was anointed and sent to
save humankind; a deep sense of Marian sonship; a strictly evangelical life, following the poor, chaste
and obedient Christ; a community life in the style of the Apostles; a fervent expression of the love
which unites us with God, and apostolic zeal for the salvation of humankind; and a faith-filled, a
prayerful and loving ministry of the Word, listened to and assimilated.

      Because of these, the Claretian proclaims the Father that he may be known and loved (the basic
meaning of what Claret calls
the glory of God).  He feels that he is anointed and sent to the poor.  By
his own poverty, he proclaims to humankind the goods of the Kingdom.  By his own chastity, he shows
his missionary availability and ardent love.  By his own obedience to the Church, he proclaims the
mystery of the obedient Christ, the itinerant Christ, intent on the Father’s glory.  By his own community
life, he recalls the apostolic community which is both evangelised and evangelising.  Faithfully and
lovingly, he lives the Word that he may more fittingly fulfil his prophetic function and become an
apostle, witness and martyr.  Living attentively to the needs of the world and the Church, he tries a
great variety of means to obtain the salvation of humankind.



THE CLARETIAN AND CONSECRATED LIFE

      The concern of the Claretian Missionaries for the Consecrated life is charismatic in origin.  Claret
was a great missionary and a man of the Church.  He recalled St. Theresa’s saying:  
What would
become of the world if it were not for the religious
.  At all times he deemed that the religious, following  
the poor, chaste and obedient Jesus, enriched the Church’s life of holiness and, by their manifold
works and activities, helped it to fulfil its evangelising mission.  Following  in his footsteps the Claretian
Missionaries have kept on promoting the renewal of religious life in the Church.

      Perceiving that the religious life was both urgent and timely, the Claretian missionaries
inaugurated in 1968 the Institute of Religious Life in Madrid, and in 1972 another one in Rome.  As the
Congregation has spread in different countries of Asia, the Claretians have come, more and more, to
appreciate the vigor and richness of the consecrated life on this Continent,  in 1997, the Institute for
Consecrated Life in Asia (ICLA) has been inaugurated as a center of higher  ecclesiastical studies,
specialised on Consecrated Life, incorporated into the Theological Faculty of the Pontifical University
of Santo Tomas (UST), in Manila.  The Claretians want to make of ICLA the centerpoint for reflection
on an inculturated religious life.

OUR COMMITMENT IN ASIA

      In order to contribute as evangelisers in responding to the great challenges that the peoples of
Asia present us, we view as valid the proposals of the documents of the Congregation but at the same
time, by reason of their relevance and timeliness, we propose:

•        To bear witness to the Christian experience of God in the context of religious pluralism.
•        To respond to the growing interest in the Word of God and to promote the missionary animation
        of local churches.
•        To enhance formation for inculturation, for interreligious dialogue and for justice and peace.
•        To promote in the Congregation a pluralism of rites, especially during the period of initial
        formation and in mission fields.
•        To reinforce our collaboration with the laity and to spur on the Lay Claretian Movement.
•        To assimilate our Claretian heritage and to inculturate our charism.
•        To deepen our commitment to the mission
ad gentes, in a dialogue of faith and life with other
        religions and cultures and with the poor.

As evangelisers, we are distressed to see so many persons who do not know the full manifestation of
the love of God made real in Jesus.  The missionary thrust
ad gentes leads us to deploy our forces
toward the increasing multitude of those who do not know Christ.

      Using all possible means as St Anthony Mary Claret told his missionaries, the Claretian
Missionaries give priority to whatever is most urgent, timely, and effective.


THE CLARETIAN FAMILY IN THE WORLD

      The Claretian Missionaries were founded by St. Anthony Mary Claret on July 16, 1849.  However,
they were only the first stone laid on the foundation of a big family,  the Claretian family in the world is
formed by many different groups.  They have something in common.  They want to follow the Gospel in
the style of Claret, missionaries at the service of the Word.

      Other Institutions founded by St. Anthony Mary Claret were: the Religious of Mary Immaculate,
Claretian Missionary Sisters, founded on August 25, 1855, with Mother Antonia Paris; the
Cordimarian Affiliation, spring of 1950 (reorganised on November 21, 1973); the Lay Claretian
Movement.  He founded different groups in the span of 1847-1864,  claret used to say that it seems
that God wants lay people to play a great role in the salvation of humankind.

      Other Institutions have been founded by Claretian Priests: the Missionaries of Mary Immaculate by
Fr. Armengol Coll and Mother Imelda Makole (October 7, 1909 in Equatorial Guinea).  The
Cordimarian Missionaries by Fr. Julian Collell and Mother Carmen Serrano (March 19, 1921 in
Mexico City).  The Missionaries of the Claretian Institution by Fr, Luis Pujol and Mother Maria Dolores
Sola (May 25, 1951 in Vic, Spain).  The Missionaries of St. Anthony Claret by Bishop Geraldo
Fernandes and Mother Leonia Milito (March 19, 1958 in Londrina, Brazil).


THE CLARETIAN MARTYRS

      More than 270 Claretian Priests, brothers and seminarians were executed during the Spanish
Civil War in 1936.  Fifty-one of these were martyred in Barbastro, and were beatified in 1992 by Pope
John Paul II.  Of these, thirty-seven were young seminarians who were about to complete their studies
for the priesthood.  During the Beatification rites at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on October 25, 1992,
Pope John Paul II spoke of them as the Martyr Seminary.  It was indeed the first time that a whole
Seminary community shed its blood for Christ and His people.

      These are the last words of one of those young Claretians:
They are your sons, beloved
Congregation, these young men, surrounded by pistols and rifles, yet they have the calm courage
and daring to cry out ‘Long live Christ the King’ on their way to the cemetery.

      In our enthusiastic cries you will be able to discern how much we love you, beloved
Congregation, since we will carry the memory of you, even into those deep regions of suffering and
death.  We all die happy with no regrets or misgivings.  We all die praying to God that the blood that
falls from our wounds will not be shed in vengeance, but will rather transfuse your veins and
stimulate your growth and expansion throughout the world.  Long live Christ the King!  Long live the
Congregation!  Farewell, dear Institute.  We are going to heaven to pray for you.


BECOMING A CLARETIAN

      The path to becoming a Claretian Missionary is na long and ardous but rewarding process.  The
path for formation begins with four years of philosophical studies in Claret Seminary College of
Philosophy.  This is located in Sanville Subdivision, Tandang Sora, Quezon City, Philippines.

      Upon graduation, the seminarians go through the most crucial step of postulancy for six months
then another year and half of novitiate.  The next step is to undergo four years of theological studies in
theology schools in Quezon City, Philippines.

      After the second year of theological studies, the seminarians have a year of Pastoral exposure in
different mission areas of the congregation.

      During the third year of theology, they participate in the Community-Based Formation program
which aims to imbibe in the young missionaries an understanding of the realities of life and an option
for the poor.
      The Formation Program of the Claretian Missionaries has been responsible for bringing many
seminarians into the mission.

      As the Claretian movement grows towards greater maturity, more dedicated missionaries are
needed not only in the Philippines but in the whole world.

      If you believe you are called for a life of service, you are invited to join the Claretians in their
missionary service of the Word of God.

CONTACT US

Claretians in Victoria:  848 Ballarat Road, Deer Park, Vic. 3023.  Ph: (03) 9363 3132.      
                                   Email: jinjocmf@yahoo.com.au.

Claretian Vocation Center:  8 Mayumi St.  U,P, Village, U.P. P.O. Box 4.  Diliman,   
                               1101 Quezon City, Philippines.  Ph: 63 (02) 925 4669
                       Fax: 63 (02) 436 7463.  Email: cmfvocpro@yahoo.com
THE CLARETIAN MISSIONARIES
Saint Anthony Mary Claret