St. Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) was arguably the greatest bishop of the 19th century. He had a fervent devotion to both the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady. He founded a religious order and tirelessly defended the Catholic Church.
HEARING THE CALL
St. Anthony was born in Catalonia (Spain). From his childhood he struggled with the thought of eternity (siempre! siempre!). He often lay in bed without being able to sleep considering the reality that he would live forever, be it in heaven or hell. He contemplated the predestined blessed and the lot of the dammed, “Yes, Forever and ever they will have to bear their pain.” This propelled his extraordinarily holy life as he would later comment: “I simply cannot understand how other priests who believe the same truths that I do, and as we all should, do not preach and exhort people to save themselves from falling into hell.”
He grew up poor and learned his trade in his father’s textile shop. He was an exceptional talent at the family business. His father foresaw him taking over and expanding the family business and was extremely pleased when Anthony received an opportunity in Barcelona to further develop his trade and business acumen. Barcelona at that time was the textile center for Spain. There was no better place for an upcoming entrepreneur and talented man like Anthony to make his name in business.
Yet our Blessed Mother intervened. Anthony once went with some friends to walk along the beach. He was separated from them, and finding himself alone, he was inexplicably pulled out to sea by the tide. (Might that have been a machination of the evil one?) He could not swim and nearly drowned in the sea. However, he was miraculously saved from the engulfing waves, and credited this miracle to our Blessed Mother (and his guardian angel). He in turn took this as a calling from God because he had been discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood. As of late, he had grown more disillusioned with the vanities of the world and he had been horribly cheated and calumniated by some 'business friends.' Thus, after this miracle, he responded by embracing asceticism, abandoning the world, and giving himself to the priesthood.
PRIESTHOOD
At this time, Spain and Europe were experiencing many difficulties. The Church was assailed by the heresy of Gallicanism (the belief that the State, or local religious authority, is superior to the Pope) and the Church was being weakened by the demonic forces of the ‘Enlightenment’ (more aptly, the ‘Darkening’ for its Humanism removes God from the center of all life and knowledge and replaces Him with man). Napoleon's armies had spread the errors of Revolutionary France all over Europe and Freemasons were promoting all forms of false liberalism aimed at the destruction of the Church. Heresy, atheistic philosophies and political upheaval were on the rise resulting in persecutions which massacred many priests and bishops.
From the time of his ordination, he was recognized as saintly and admired for his power in preaching. Beginning in small towns, his fame rapidly spread; especially because he was willing to travel long distances through dangerous terrain (land controlled by armed men that hated the Church) in order to bring the sacraments to many rural towns. Given the atrocious conditions many people found themselves in, sickness and plague spread rapidly and claimed many lives. Thus, he decided to train himself in medicine and learn how to administer physical cures. His knowledge in these matters remained rudimentary but he learned various remedies that he could prescribe (today we would considered these simple "home remedies"). However, many times when confronted with the sick, he did not have access to any adequate medicines (even home cures). Thus, he would simply give the sick water and some herbs telling them this was the medicine they needed and it would heal them. All his patients, regardless of the ailment, would receive this same prescription. Then through his prayers, merti and intercession, God would work miracles via those placebos and heal his infirm patients. Before long his 'medicinal art' was discovered and his fame spread even more as a great miracle-worker.
Rome then named him an apostolic missionary. He traveled throughout Spain, preaching up to twelve sermons daily, and hearing confessions in his remaining time. He ceaselessly preached and promoted the Rosary and devotion to our Blessed Mother. His success in conversions led his enemies to hate him and the Freemasons attempted to murder him on fourteen different occasions! Even the devil attacked him and on one occasion made a great stone arch collapse in a Church where he was preaching. Miraculously not a single person was harmed in the packed Church. “If hell’s persecution is great,” Saint Anthony said, “heaven’s protection is greater.” Knowing the world needed more missionaries, he helped many religious orders, despite their being suppressed by anti-Church governments, and even founded an order on July 16, 1849: the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (known as the Claretians).
EPISCOPACY
Next Blessed Pope Pius IX named him Archbishop of Cuba, where the Church was in complete disarray: heresies abounded, oppression was rampant, Freemasons dominated the government, priests were immoral and lax, and the diocese was completely impoverished. He became perhaps the greatest reformer of the century and the greatest saint Cuba has ever seen.
“It is preferable to leave the parishes priestless than to send them unworthy priests” he said after observing how people were more likely to persevere in grace in towns with no priests than those with bad ones. “If God doesn’t send me true vocations,” he contended, “He will protect the neglected souls by means of His angels. It is He Who gives the call; and it is not for me to introduce pastors into flocks they will devour rather than feed.”
His sweeping reforms converted many of his priests back to the faith and inspired numerous worthy vocations. Within six short years, this saint had rehabilitated the Church and tirelessly sacrificed himself to convert the entire nation. Once when a massive earthquake devastated Cuba, he stopped the tremors from erupting by pressing his holy hand upon the ground. Later, a horrible plaque of cholera claimed nearly a third of the island’s population. The bishop never ceased to remind his people that these were divine chastisements because they refused conversion. His missionary zeal never wanted, miracles never ceased, and his works of charity and love knew no bounds.
A SAINT WITH SOLUTIONS FOR TODAY
All his life St. Anthony Mary Claret was incredibly devoted to our Blessed Mother and the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, he was such a GREAT saint that when he consumed the consecrated Host at Holy Mass, the Host would not dissolve, but remained intact within him. The Church has always taught that as long the accidents of bread remain in the Transubstantiated species, then the Real Presence of Christ remains. Once however, the Host dissolves as per our normal body processes (saliva, stomach acids, etc) then Christ is no longer present. Some medical information I have read indicates that as a general rule, the Host will not retain its physical properties for more than about seven minutes once ingested. Not so however with our saint. Contrary to all the laws of nature, the Blessed Sacrament would remain in him without suffering any decomposition until the next time he was to offer the Holy Sacrifice. Thus, he was a LIVING TABERNACLE! This gives us a great indication of how incredibly holy and pure he was. For this reason, St. Athony Mary Claret is often depicted with the Blessed Sacrament shining through his chest and with the Blessed Mother at his side.
Interestingly, it was revealed to St. John Bosco (a contemporary of St. Anthony Mary Claret.), in a famous dream, that the Church would only be preserved from the maelstrom of heresy and diabolical disorientation once the Pope firmly tethered the Bark of Peter to the columns of the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Mother. These are our two sure defenses against the devil. A priest with a strong Marian and Eucharistic devotion will be a good shepherd of souls. If a parish suffers in Eucharistic and Marian piety, the Faith will languish. Souls who wish to be saved must foster a fervent devotion to the Holy Eucharist (Sacred Heart) and our Blessed Mother (Immaculate Heart).
THE FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL
St. Anthony Mary Claret was recalled to Spain, where he became Queen Isabella II’s confessor. He also helped reform the Church, participated in the First Vatican Council, and tirelessly defended the Pope and the Holy Faith. He was one of the strongest proponents of defining papal infallibility. He provided reasons arguments from Scripture and Faith in order to convince many of the other council fathers. He shed many tears when Garibaldi and the Italian revolutionary armies sacked Rome, killed many, and lay siege to the Pope Pius IX.
EXILE AND DEATH
Clearly, the enemy never rests. St. Anthony was constantly persecuted and attacked, betrayed and calumniated. Eventually, fearing she needed to disobey the holy bishop in order to prevent bloody revolutions in her domain, Queen Isabella II succumbed to political pressures and freemason machinations. She recognized Garibaldi's and Vittorio Emanuele's revolutionary Italian government persecuting Pope Pius IX and exiled St. Anthony Mary Claret. Spain had been the final great state defending the Pope, due largely to St. Anthony's efforts. But now Spain too had betrayed Christ's vicar. In the final years of his life, isolated far from home and rejected by all, St. Anthony Mary Claret suffered much. He died on October 24, 1870 in a Cistercian monastery in France, and was canonized in 1950.