Vincent Sanz Tobes

Vicente Sanz Tobes cmf. T R A C E S O F C L A R E T Roma, 2009 1 2 INTRODUCTION Some time ago, in 1973, in the Claretian seminary of Segovia, a group of minor seminarians, guided by their formators, and after many days’ work, were able to make a dream come true. They gathered in just one book what they thought was essential to get to know the Congregation of Claretian Missionaries. Time passed and, with the collabo- ration of many others, we can publish now this edition, revised and updated. The idea of reediting the book is basically due to the acceptance and usefulness it is having in the seminaries of the Congregation and in the provincial centres of Youth Ministry, as well as the felt need among vocation promoters of such publication. We know it has already been translated into English, French, Japanese, Polish and Russian. To those who may consider the book too elemental I would say that my intention is still to respect the original idea: To have in just one book the basic elements to know the fundamental aspects that no candidate to the Congregation should ignore. At the end of each chapter I have added a “basic bibliography” for the sake of those who wish to widen their information. I hope this book is useful to all. I dedicate this simple work to the Blessed Mar- tyrs of Barbastro who, with their writings and the testimony of their death, have given the Congregation an inexhaustible treasure of life and hope. Rome, Jannuary 2009 Vicente Sanz Tobes, cmf. 3 4 CHAPTER I SAINT ANTHONY MARY CLARET, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION FIRST YEARS (1807-1829) Childhood Anthony Claret y Clará was born in Sallent, Barcelona, Spain on 23 December 1807. He was the fifth of eleven children of John Claret and Josephine Clará. He was baptised on Christmas Day. The delicate condition of his mother caused him to be placed under the care of a wet-nurse in Santa María de Oló. One night that Anthony stayed at his parents’ house, the wet nurse’s house collapsed and everyone in the house died in the accident. For Claret that always was a sign of divine Providence. Claret’s cradle was constantly shaken by the rattling of the wooden looms his father had in the ground floor of the house. From a very tender age Anthony gave signs of a sharp intelligence and a soft heart. At age five, “Toñín” thought about eternity: sitting on the bed at night, he was deeply touched by that “forever, forever, forever.” Later on, when he became an Archbishop, he would recall: “This idea of an eternity of torment made such a deep impression on me, either because of the tender age when it began, or because of the many times I thought about it, that it is surely the thing that to this day I remember best. The power of this idea has made me work in the past, still makes me work, and will make me work as long as I live, in converting sinners” (Aut n.9). The people’s war against Napoleon vividly affected the ambience of that epoch. His soldiers often passed by the town between 1808 and 1814. Even the priests of the town had joined the battle. In 1812 the new Constitution was promulgated. Meanwhile, Anthony played, studied, grew... Two loves were already outstand- ing in little Claret: the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin. He attentively attended Mass, made frequent visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament, often went with his sister Rose to the shrine of Fusimanya and daily recited the rosary. Books were Anthony’s weakness. Few things contributed to Anthony’s holiness as much as his readings, the first readings of his childhood, because his readings were selected. But as early as that age, Anthony had a dream: to become a priest and an apostle. However his vocation would follow a different itinerary yet. Among the Looms Anthony spent his entire adolescence at his father’s workshop. He soon became master in the textile craft. In order to improve his craftsmanship, he asked his father to let him go to Barcelona, where the textile industry was attracting many young people. There he enrolled in the School of Arts and Trades of “La Lonja.” He worked during the day and studied at night. Although he continued being a good Christian, his heart was centred on his work. Thanks to his tenacity and ingenuity, he soon was able to surpass 5 in quality and beauty the samples that came from abroad. A group of businessmen, ad- miring his competence, proposed to him an alluring plan: to start a textile company in which they would take responsibility for the financing and set-up of the factory. But inexplicably, Anthony refused. God was involved. There were events that made him more sensitive to the voice of God. These are some of these events: he ran into a partner who ended up in prison, his friend’s wife set up a tempting trap for him, he came out miraculously unscathed from the sea where a gigantic wave had carried him, etc. Lastly, he was deeply impressed by the words of the Gospel: “What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys himself?” (Mt 16,26). The looms suddenly stopped, and Anthony went to consult with the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri. At last he resolved to become a Carthusian and informed his father of his plan. His decision to become a priest reached the Bishop of Vic, Msgr. Paul of Jesus Corcuera, who wished to meet him. Anthony left Barcelona about the beginning of September 1829 on his way to Sal- lent and Vic. He was 21 and was decided to become a priest. PRIEST, APOSTOLIC MISSIONARY AND FOUNDER (1829-1850) In the Seminary In the seminary of Vic, forge of apostles, Claret was formed as an extern semi- narian, living as a famulus (helper) of Don Fortián Bres, the Steward of the bishop’s palace. Soon he stood out for his piety and his industriousness. He chose Fr. Peter Bach of the Oratory as his confessor and director. After a year, the time arrived to carry out his decision to enter the Carthusian monastery of Montealegre. He left for the monastery, but he ran into a summer storm that ruined his plans. Perhaps God did not want him a Carthusian. He took a half turn and went back to Vic. The following year he passed the acid test of chastity in a temptation that came up to him a day that he was lying sick in bed. He saw the Blessed Virgin appear to him and, showing him a crown, she said to him: “Anthony, this crown will be yours if you overcome.” Suddenly, all ob- sessive images vanished. Under the wise guide of Bishop Corcuera, the atmosphere of the seminary was optimal. There he made friends with James Balmes, who would be ordained Deacon in the same ceremony that Claret was ordained Subdeacon. It was in this epoch that Claret entered into a deep contact with the Bible, which would impel him unto an insatiable apostolic and missionary spirit. Priest At age 27, on 13 June 1835, the Bishop of Solsona, Fr. John Joseph de Tejada, former General of the Mercedarians, conferred upon him the sacred order of the Priest- hood. He celebrated his first Mass in the parish of Sallent on 21 June, with great satis- faction and joy on the part of his family. His first assignment was precisely Sallent, his hometown. At the death of Ferdinand VII the Spanish political situation had worsened. The constitutionalists, imitators of the French revolution, had taken over the power. In the Parliament of 1835 the suppression of all religious Institutes was approved. The posses- sions of the Church were confiscated and auctioned, and the people were instigated to burn the convents and kill the priests. The Provinces of Navarre, Catalonia and the 6 Basque country soon revolted against this disorder and the war broke out between Car- lists and Isabellines. But Claret was not a politician. He was an apostle. So he dedicated himself, body and soul, to the priestly tasks, despite the enormous difficulties he encountered due to the hostile ambience of his hometown. His charity had no bounds. Therefore, the horizons of a parish did not satisfy Claret’s apostolic zeal. He consulted and decided to go to Rome to enrol in the Propagation of the Faith, with he intention of going to preach the Gospel in pagan lands. It was the month of September 1839. He was 31. In Rome he Seeks his Missionary Identity With a little bundle of things and without money, a young priest crossed the Pyr- enees, bound for the eternal city. When he arrived in Marseilles, he took a ship for Rome. In the eternal city, Claret made the Spiritual Exercises with a priest from the Society of Jesus. He felt called to enter as a Jesuit novice. He had gone to Rome in order to offer himself as a missionary of the world, but God seemed not to want him either as a missionary ad gentes nor as a Jesuit. A malady, a stabbing pain in his right leg, made him understand that his mission was in Spain. After three months he left the novi- ciate on the advice of Fr. Roothaan. Back in Spain, he was temporarily assigned to Viladrau, a small woodmen town at the time, in the province of Gerona.

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