Saint of the Day: St. Anthony Mary Claret

Bishop (1807-1870)

His life

+ Anthony was born in Spain in 1807. Ordained a priest in 1835, he worked as a mission and retreat director throughout Catalonia. To help in this work, he founded a new religious community: the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (commonly known as the Claretians).

+ In 1849, Anthony was consecrated as bishop of Santiago in Cuba. Seeing the many needs of his diocese, he initiated a program of reforms, including the creation of a new community of sisters: the Sisters of Mary Immaculate.

+ In 1857, he was recalled to Spain to serve as chaplain for Queen Isabella II. This position allowed him to continue preaching and publishing. He later opened a museum, library, schools, and a laboratory and helped revive the Catalan language.

+ A participant in the First Vatican Council, Anthony Mary Claret was later forced to flee Spain following the Revolution of 1868 and he died in exile in 1870.

+ Saint Anthony Mary Claret was canonized in 1950.

For prayer and reflection

“The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he deserves and works with all this strength to inflame all men with the fire of God’s love.”—Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Vocations

- To learn more about the priests and brothers of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Claretians), visit: http://claretianvocations.claretians.org

- To learn more about the Claretian Missionary Sisters, visit: www.claretiansisters.org

Spiritual bonus

On October 24 we also remember the child-martyr Blessed Benigna Cardoso da Silva.

Orphaned before the age of one, she and her siblings were adopted by two elderly sisters in Carto, Brazi. She was remembered as enjoying walks with her siblings or have picnics whenever she could, in between her taking care of the household chores; she regularly attended Mass and was recognized as a pious child. At the age of twelve she began receiving unwanted sexual advances from a local youth and, although she resisted him, he continued to act out toward Benigna. On October 24, 1941, the young man again attacked her as she was going to get water and, when she tried to fight him off, he killed her, mutilating her body with a machete. She has come to honored as a martyr who died "in defense of chastity" and was beatified in 2022. Blessed Benigna was thirteen years-old at the time of her death.

Prayer

O God, who for the evangelization of peoples
strengthened the Bishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret
with admirable charity and long-suffering,
grant, through his intercession,
that, seeking the things that are yours,
we may earnestly devote ourselves
to winning our brothers and sisters for Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.