Anthony Mary Claret
| Saint Anthony Mary Claret | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Bishop and founder of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary | |
| Born |
December 23, 1807 Sallent, Barcelona, Spain |
| Died | October 24, 1870 (aged 62) Fontfroide, Narbonne, France |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | February 25, 1934, Rome by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | May 7, 1950, Rome by Pope Pius XII |
| Major shrine | Vic, Barcelona, Spain |
| Feast | October 24 October 23 (local calendars and among Traditional Roman Catholics) |
| Attributes | Bishop's robe, crozier, an open book, catechism, 2 students beside him at his side and having his bent arm pointing to the sky |
| Patronage | Textile merchants, weavers, savings (taught the poor the importance of savings), Catholic press, Claretians, Dioceses of the Canary Islands, Claretian students, Claretian educators and Claretian educational institutions, technical and vocational educators |
Saint Anthony Mary Claret, C.M.F. (Catalan: Antoni Maria Claret i Clarà; Spanish: Antonio María Claret y Clarà; December 23, 1807 – October 24, 1870) was a Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop and missionary, and was confessor of Isabella II of Spain. He founded the congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, commonly called the Claretians.
Antoni Maria Claret i Clarà was born in Sallent, in the county of Bages in the Province of Barcelona, on December 23, 1807, the fifth of the eleven children of Juan and Josefa Claret. His father was a woollen manufacturer. As a child he enjoyed pilgrimages to the nearby Shrine of Our Lady of Fussimanya.
Claret received an elementary education in his native village, and at the age of twelve became a weaver. At the age of eighteen, he went to Barcelona to specialize in his trade, and remained there until he was 20 years old. Meanwhile, he devoted his spare time to study and became proficient in Latin, French and engraving.
Recognizing a call to religious life, he left Barcelona. He wished to become a Carthusian monk but finally entered the diocesan seminary at Vic in 1829, and was ordained on June 13, 1835, on the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. He received a benefice in his native parish, where he continued to study theology until 1839; but as missionary work strongly appealed to him, he proceeded to Rome. There he entered the Jesuit novitiate but had to leave due to ill health. He then returned to Spain and exercised his pastoral ministry in Viladrau and Girona, attracting notice by his efforts on behalf of the poor. In an area despoiled by the Carlist civil war, he added the practice of rustic medicine to his other endeavors.
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