Saint Anthony Mary Claret, The “spiritual father of Cuba”
was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer,
queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop, and
refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the
Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris, and to the First Vatican Council.
In his spare time as weaver and designer in the
textile mills of Barcelona, Anthony learned Latin and
printing. Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health
from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit,
but went on to become one of Spain’s most popular
preachers.
Anthony spent 10 years giving popular missions
and retreats, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It
was said that his rosary was never out of his hand. At
age 42, he founded a religious institute of missionaries
beginning with five young priests, known today as the
Claretians.
Anthony was appointed to head the much neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its
reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of
confessions, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for
opposing concubinage and giving instruction to black
slaves. A hired assassin whose release from prison Anthony had obtained—slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassin’s
death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution
for the misery of Cubans was family owned farms producing a variety of foods for the family’s own needs and
for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash
crop sugar. Besides all his religious writings are two
books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and
Country Delights.
All his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic
press. He founded the Religious Publishing House, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain, and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets. At Vatican I, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility, Anthony won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal
Gibbons of Baltimore remarked of him, “There goes a
true saint.” At the age of 63, he died in exile near the border of Spain.
Jesus foretold that those who are truly his representatives would suffer the same persecution as he did.
Besides 14 attempts on his life, Anthony had to undergo
such a barrage of the ugliest slander that the very name
Claret became a byword for humiliation and misfortune.
Saint Anthony Mary Claret is a Patron Saint of:
Weavers