Saint Anthony Mary Claret

. See also The writings of St. Francis of Assisi, trans. Benen Fahy ; with introduction and notes by Placid Hermann (Chicago : Franciscan Herald Press, 1964).

2005 Cf. Venegas, Miguel, op.cit., p. 195.

2006 Cf. Lk 2:49: I must be about my Father's and my Mother’s business.

2007 Cf. Autob. n. 754.

2008 Cf. Jn 4:34.

2009 Cf. Autob. n. 753.

2010 Cf. Venegas, Miguel, op. cit., p. 234.

2011 Cf. Jn 19:34.

2012 St. Arsenius the Abbot (Rome 354-Memphis 450). He was a Senator and employed in the imperial palace, tutor for Arcadius and Honorius, sons of the Emperor Theodosius, and later a monk famous for his penitence, wisdom, and spiritual advice to many people.

2013 Theodosius the Great (Emperor, 379-395), Arcadius (Roman Emperor of the East, 377-408) and Honorius (Roman Emperor of the West, 395-423).

2014 Rodríguez, Alonso, Ejercicio de perfección y virtudes cristianas (Barcelona 1861) parte 2, p. 209. Ex libris. See Alphonsus Rodriguez, The Practice Of Christian And Religious Perfection, 3 vol., (Kessinger Publishing, 2006).

2015 Don Juan Donoso Cortés (Valle de la Serena, 1809-París, 1853), diplomat and writer.

2016 Autob. n.775.

2017 Cf. Autob. 792.

2018 He refers to his practice of distributing a consideration of various mysteries of Our Lord’s Passion among the various hours of the Divine Office (cf. MSS Claret II, 65; Spiritual Notes, Archbishop of Cuba, n. 6c).

2019 Cf. Gisbert, Lorenzo, op. cit., pp. 68-69.

2020 Mt 11:29.

2021 Ágreda, María de Jesús de, Mística ciudad de Dios (Barcelona 1860). See note 221.

2022 Cf. St. Francis de Sales, Introducción a la vida devota (Madrid 1771) chap. 8, p. 109. Ex libris. See St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Allan Ross, Trans. (Dover Publications (2009).

2023 Cf. Tit 3:2.

2024 Cf. Is 65:1.

2025 Letter written in Madrid January 15, 1864 (EC, II, pp. 746-747).

2026 Cf. Lights and Graces, November 25, 1863.

2027 Cf. Autob. n. 796).

2028 Cf. Autob. n. 797).

2029 Fray Hernando de Talavera (1428-1507), Confessor to Queen Isabel the Catholic, Bishop of Ávila y Archbishop of Granada.

2030 The change of subject-matter from meekness to the love of God can probably be traced to the illumination he received on July 16, 1863 (cf. Lights and Graces, 1863). The manner in which he carried this can be seen in Examination of the principal documents which souls need to aspire to perfection. Written under the symbol of The Dove (Barcelona 1848), pp. 24-27. The Well-Instructed Schoolgirl, published this year, has questions for a particular examen on the love of God and neighbor (Barcelona 1864), pp. 404-408.

2031 2 Cor. 6:16: For you are the temple of the living God.

2032 1 Cor. 3:16: Know you not, that you are the temple of God?

2033 Cf. Lk 10: 38-42.

2034 Ps 72:26, Vulgate, (Ps 73:26): You art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever. This resolution gave rise to the short work The Temple and Palace of God our Lord (Barcelona 1866) 68 pp; now found in Works III, pp. 175-208.

2035 Cf. Resolutions, 1865 and Resolutions, 1866.

2036 Eph 3:17: That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.

2037 Gal 4:19: Until Christ be formed in you.

2038 Anónimo, Vie de M. Olier (Paris 1853) l, p. 145. Ex libris. Cf. Spiritual Notes: Royal Confessor, 5.

2039 Inspired by Fray Luis de Granada: Guía de pecadores (Madrid 1730) book 2, chap. 14 pp. 451-452. This triad, which is reproduced in the resolutions for the following year, reflects the Saint’s interest in imitating the interior life of Jesus Christ. (cf. Autob. Doc. X and Spiritual notes: Royal Confessor, 8); cf. Ducos, Jean-Charles, Le Pasteur apostolique (Paris 1861) I, pp. 251-252. Ex libris.

2040 For a notion of what the Saint was suffering at this time, cf. HD, II, pp. 655-676.

2041 Venerable Tomé de Jesús, Trabajos de Jesús (Barcelona 1726) 2 vols. Ex libris. This work was providential for Claret during this time of trials and persecutions. Besides the passages he cites here, he also underlined many more that impressed him: cf. Engler, João de Castro, Influências dos autores portugueses sobre a espiritualidade de Santo Antônio Maria Claret: SC 2 (1961) 7-44.

2042 Is 38:14: Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me.

2043 Cf. Mt 27:12, 14.

2044 Is 30:15: In silence and in hope shall your strength be.

2045 Cf. Is 65:1.

2046 Autob. n. 839).

2047 Cf. Mss. Claret, X, 43-80; Constituciones y textos sobre la Congregación le Misioneros. Ed. by J. M. Lozano (Barcelona 1972) pp. 581-605.

2048 Cf. Spiritual Notes, Archbishop of Cuba, n. 6c.

2049 Cf. HD, II, p. 678.

2050 According to the handwritten original of the preparatory talk (cf. MSS Claret X, 43), the retreat proper began on Monday, August 28th. On the 27th, the group celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Patroness of the Congregation.

2051 (Cf. Autob. 741) where the Saint adds: “on the mysteries of the rosary and on the sufferings of Jesus Christ.”

2052 Cf. note 252.

2053 Don Pedro de Castro (1534-1623).This year Claret published a résumé of the life of this prelate in Appendix II of Notes for the Governance of the Diocese, 2nd ed. (Madrid 1865), pp. 153-191: Escritos Pastorales, pp. 568-602. On p. 594 he says: “Every day he recited the divine office on his knees, with pauses and devotion, and was very zealous that all clergy should recite it slowly, lingering somewhat at the asterisks, and somewhat more at the end of each verse.” He took the data for this résumé from Heredia Barnuevo, Diego Nicolás, Mystico ramillete histórico, cronológyco, panegyrico...de la... exemplarissima vida y meritissima fama posthuma del Ambrosio de Granada... Don Pedro de Castro. Mystica Basa del Sacro Illipulitano Monte de Granada, sermon panegyrico historial (Granada 1741) 23 pages, XXVIII+12 8+30 pp.

2054 “One very sick and spiritual Father called this ‘humility with a hook,’ because with this hook one hopes to catch praise from another” (Rodríguez, Alonso, Ejercicio de perfección y virtudes cristianas [Barcelona 1861] part 2, tract. 3, chap. 13, p. 165). Ex libris. Claret marked the paragraph cited with a dash. See note 237.

2055 Do you not know that you are the temple of God?

2056 For you are the temple of the living God.

2057 Cf. Lk 10:38-42.

2058 Vulgate. (RSV 73:26): For you are the God of my heart, and my portion forever.

2059 My God and my all: an expression that St. Francis of Assisi frequently repeated. (cf. Ribadeneira, Pedro, Flos sanctorum [Madrid 1761] III, p. 186). Ex libris. See note 227.

2060 Let Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.

2061 Until Christ be formed in you. – In these paragraphs is a resume of the ideas which he expounds upon more fully in the short work The Temple and Palace of God our Lord, (Barcelona 1866) 68 pp. See Works III, pp. 175-208.

2062 Ágreda, María de Jesús de, Mystical City of God (Barcelona 1860). See note 221.

2063 Granada, Fray Luis de, Guía de pecadores (Madrid 1730) book 2, chap. 14, pp. 451-452.

2064 Is 38:14: Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me.

2065 In silence and in hope shall your strength be.

2066 Cf. Is 65:1.

2067 May I know Thee, may I know myself, that I may love Thee and despise myself: St. Augustine, Soliloquios, book. 2, chap. 1, n. 1.; see note 177 and Spiritual notes: Royal confessor, 14c.

2068 Letter to Mother París, December 18, 1865 (EC II, p. 959).

2069 Cf. Note 252.

2070 Cf. Notes for the Governance of the Diocese (Madrid 1865) 2nd ed., p. 183.

2071 CMF Constitutions (Barcelona 1866) part 2, chap. 5 (on humility) nn. 12-13. The Constitutions were approved by Pius IX on December 22, 1865.

2072 Do you not know that you are the temple of God?

2073 You are the temple of the living God.

2074 Cf. Lk 10: 38-42.

2075 These images and ideas are even more fully developed in Claret’s short work, Temple and Palace of God our Lord (Barcelona 1866), 68 pp. See Works III, pp. 175-208

2076 Ps 72:26: You are the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.

2077 Cf. note 290.

2078 My God and my all: phrase of St. Francis of Assisi (cf. Ribadeneira, Pedro, Flos sanctorum [Madrid 1761] III, p. 186).

2079 May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.

2080 Until Christ is formed in you.

2081 Cf. Lk 2:7.

2082 Cf. Songs 5:10.

2083 1 Sam 3:10: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

2084 Acts 22:10: Lord, what would you have me do? – Other texts regarding his young spirituality in Spiritual notes: Royal confessor, 12.

2085 Cf. Granada, Fray Luis, Guía de pecadores (Madrid 1730) book 2, chap. 14 pp. 451-452. - It is odd that he omits the first member of the previous year’s triad, “For God, I will have the heart of a son.” Perhaps this is because his attitude toward God is sufficiently expressed in resolutions 7 to 14.

2086 Obras del Venerable Maestro Juan de Ávila clérigo, Apóstol de Andalucía (Madrid 1760). Ex libris.

2087 Letter to Fr. Xifré, June 29, 1866 (EC II, p. 1017).

2088 St. Gabriel’s was the name of the former Alcantarine house in Segovia which became, in November 1861, a mission-house of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

2089 He gives his reasons for choosing the 25th of each month as his day of recollection in his work Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Explained (Madrid 1859). This day recalls the mysteries of the Incarnation (March 25th) and the Nativity (December 25th) of Jesus.

2090 He spells this out even more clearly in resolution n. 10 of the following year: “At Matins, I will think of the Mysteries of the Rosary, and at the [Little] Hours, Vespers and Compline, of the stages of the Passion.”

2091 Rodríguez, Alonso, Ejercicio de perfección y virtudes cristianas (Barcelona 1861) part 1, tract. 8, chap. 9, the title of which is “Of some things that make this practice of conformity with God’s will easier and sweeter.” The passage Claret alludes to here is marked with a double underline.

2092 Ps 72:26: Vulgate. (Ps 73:26): You are the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.

2093 Cf. 2 Cor. 12:2.

2094 Cf. Note 290.

2095 Rodríguez, Alonso, op. cit., part 1. The main title of ch. 16 is: “How we are able to dwell for a long time on one and the same thing in prayer. There is offered the practice of a very profitable manner of prayer, which is to get down to particular cases.” The “particular case” Claret is referring to is conformity with the will of God.

2096 Acts 22:10: Lord, what would you have me do?

2097 Cf. a lápide, Cornelius, Commentaria in Acta Apostolorum, Epistolas canonicas et Apocalypsin (Amberes 1672) pp. 173-174. Ex libris. An 1890 English translation of this great work by T. W. Mossman (Fourth Ed., J. Hodges, London) is available on the Internet.