Anthony Mary Claret

Life events

1. Born — 1807

   Antoni Maria Claret i Clarà was born on December 23, 1807, in Sallent, in the county of Bages in the Province of Barcelona, the fifth of eleven children of Juan and Josefa Claret; his father was a wool manufacturer.

2. Ordained — 1835

   Claret was ordained a priest on June 13, 1835, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, after entering the diocesan seminary at Vic in 1829; he received a benefice in his native parish of Sallent and continued theological studies until 1839.

3. Other — 1849

   On July 16, 1849, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Claret established the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Claretians) on his return to mainland Spain from a 15-month mission to the Canary Islands, and founded the religious library known as Librería Religiosa in Barcelona.

4. Consecrated — 1850

   Pope Pius IX, at the request of Queen Isabella II of Spain, appointed Claret Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba; he was consecrated at Vic in October 1850 and made three pilgrimages before embarking — to Our Lady of the Pillar, the Virgin of Montserrat, and Our Lady of Fussimanya.

5. Other — 1855

   On August 25, 1855, Claret co-founded the Religious of Mary Immaculate together with Maria Antonia Paris; the congregation is considered the first women religious institute in Cuba.

6. Exiled — 1868

   When the revolution of 1868 dethroned Queen Isabella II, Claret accompanied her into exile in France, preaching in Paris before traveling to Rome to meet with Pope Pius IX.

7. Council — 1869

   In 1869 Claret traveled to Rome to prepare for the First Vatican Council; failing health subsequently forced him to withdraw to Prada de Conflent in the French Pyrenees.

8. Died — 1870

   Claret died on October 24, 1870, aged 62, at the Cistercian abbey of Fontfroide near Narbonne in southern France; his remains were buried at Vic in the County of Osona.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Claret founded the Claretians in 1849; by the early 21st century the congregation had over 450 houses, 3,100 members, and missions on five continents. (certain)
• Claret wrote 144 books; his works in Spanish and Catalan are credited with contributing to the revival of the Catalan language and include an autobiography written 1861–1862 at the direction of his spiritual director, Joseph Xifré. (likely)
• When Claret's relics were transferred to the mission house at Vic in 1897, his heart was found incorrupt; it remains a pilgrimage relic at Vic. (plausible)
• Claret was beatified by Pope Pius XI on February 24, 1934, and canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 7, 1950; the 1969 revision of the Roman Calendar fixed his feast to October 24, the date of his death. (certain)
• As Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Claret reorganized the seminary, validated over 9,000 marriages in his first two years, founded a hospital and schools, established vocational schools for disadvantaged children, and set up credit unions for the poor. (likely)