Even though he died almost 100 years before Miles Jesu’s founding, St. Anthony Mary Claret is the spiritual founder of Miles Jesu. Our Ecclesial Family is fundamentally based on his ideals, spirituality, and the example of his life. Miles Jesu was founded by a Claretian and has always received much help and encouragement from Claretians in positions of authority, including several working at the Vatican.
Antonio Maria Claret y Clara was born in Vic, northern Spain, in 1807. He writes in his autobiography that when he was only five years old he was so struck with the idea of eternity that he would lie awake at night continually repeating to himself “forever and forever and forever….” He said that the thought caused him much distress for souls that were eternally lost, and produced a great zeal to stop anyone from going to hell. He developed this fervor to a truly amazing degree. By the time of his death in 1870 he had written 144 books and pamphlets, and—a much sought-after retreat master—had preached more than 25,000 sermons. He served as the private chaplain of the Queen of Spain and also as Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba. He was a Council Father at Vatican Council I (opened in December 1869, dispersed unexpectedly the following June but never officially closed due to political upheaval in Italy at that time) where he was a leading proponent of the doctrine of papal infallibility, which was defined at that Council. He founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (to become also known as the Claretians), and co-founded a congregation of Claretian sisters. Pope Pius XI called him the “Great precursor of Catholic Action, almost as it is today” (beatification homily). St. Anthony Mary Claret, himself a gifted inventor and businessman, applied his incredible energy to all types of apostolic activities for the laity. He founded a science laboratory, a museum of natural history, music and language schools, and an association of writers and artists. He had a gift for reaching, through his sermons and publications as well as in casual conversation, people of all kinds—children, youth, intellectuals, blue collar workers, the elderly, professionals. Persecutions of the Church in Europe and the much-needed reforms he introduced in Cuba resulted in several assassination attempts on St. Anthony Mary Claret; at the end of his life he was banished from Spain and died in exile at a Cistercian monastery in France.
St. Anthony went to great lengths to promote devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, preaching and writing ardently about them. He received the very special blessing of the Real Presence remaining within him from one Communion to the next so that in fact he was nothing less than a living tabernacle. This grace was sometimes perceivable to those around him and even some of the other bishops at the Vatican Council related that in his presence they felt an urge to genuflect. St. Anthony’s love of Mary especially under the title of the Immaculate Heart prompted him not only to speak and write of her but to name the congregation he founded for her, putting his spiritual sons (and later, daughters) under her special protection. He also had an interesting custom of drawing or painting a heart on images of Our Lady, to promote devotion to her heart. Another essential pillar for a sound Catholic spiritual life, unity with the Holy Father, shone out in the life of St. Anthony Mary Claret as well. The clearest example of this was his strong defense of the proposed doctrine on infallibility at Vatican I, while many of the other Council Fathers expressed doubts or even disagreement. It was in no small part thanks to St. Anthony’s impassioned defense of this dogma that in the end the Council defined it.
In our Miles Jesu spirituality we follow our spiritual father in his special reverence for the Immaculate Heart, calling ourselves Sons and Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of the Epiphany. We follow his example of reverence for the Eucharist and although we do not have the singular grace of retaining the Real Presence from one Communion to the next, our spirituality is marked by reverential Eucharistic worship with Exposition morning and evening, daily Mass of course, and nocturnal adoration once a week. And we strive to follow his example of loyalty and service to the Church in the person of the Holy Father, and all those who represent him. And, like St. Anthony, our apostolic mission is to bring people of all walks and states of life to Christ through industrious, professional work, through friendly conversation, through retreats, and through the the printed (and, today, digital) word.
May St. Anthony plead for us the grace to be worthy sons and daughters of the rich heritage he has left us.
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