Saint Anthony Mary Claret

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1955 Cf. Spiritual notes. Royal confessor, 14b.

1956 This definition of humility is taken in substance from Scaramelli, Juan Bautista, Directorio ascético (Madrid 1806) III, p. 551. Ex libris. In it, the author sums up the definitions of humility given by St. Bernard and St. Thomas Aquinas (2a-2ae, q. 161, a. 6). Claret commented on this in the retreat he preached in 1855. See Eng. trans. The Directorium Asceticum; [4 vols.] Or, Guide to the spiritual life; with preface by [Cardinal Manning] Scaramelli, John Baptist, S.J., (Dublin: Kelly, 1869); (London and New York, 1902); abgd. ed. , Manual of Christian Perfection, Msgr. Stockman ed., (Los Angeles, 1921).

1957 Cf. Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Explained (Madrid 1859) pp. 298-312. Of the three points of the meditation, he was most moved by the first, which is summed up in the lines that precede it: “Equity and justice require that we love being treated with contempt.” In the resolutions for this year, we may say that his efforts for humility reach their culmination as a response to the divine insights he received from the Lord on November 25, 1858 and January 6, 1859 (cf. Lights and Graces, 1858 and 1859).

1958 Letter written in Madrid, October 29, 1860. (EC, II, p. 186).

1959 Cf. Ecc 4:10.

1960 Letter written in Madrid, July 12, 1857 (EC, I, p. 1375).

1961 Cf. the explanation of these matters in Spiritual Notes, “Royal Confessor.”

1962 Mk 7:37: He has done all things well.

1963 For the greater honor and Glory of God: motto of the Society of Jesus. Abbreviated it is written A.M.D.G. or AMDG.

1964 Gen. 42:21: We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned.

1965 Rom 8:18: The sufferings of this time are not worthy compared to the Glory to come.

1966 St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380).

1967 St. Theresa of Jesus (1515-1582).

1968 St. John of the Cross (Fontiveros, Ávila, 1542-Úbeda, Jaén, 1591), poet, theologian, mystic, and Doctor of the Church.

1969 St. Martin of Tours (316-397).

1970 St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Doctor of the Church.

1971 Cf. Gisbert, Lorenzo, Vida portentosa de la seráfica y cándida virgen Santa Catalina de Siena (Gerona 1804) pp. 68-69.

1972 Is. 30:15: In silence and in hope shall be your strength.

1973 “Flee, be silent, rest.”

1974 Imitation of Christ, “In silence and quiet of heart, a devout soul advances in virtue and learns to understand the hidden things of the Scriptures

1975 He must be referring to Saporiti, Giuseppe, Bishop of Genoa and author of the works: Camino del cielo. Trans. by Esteban Pinell (Gerona 1848) and Mes de María (Barcelona s. a.) 94 pp. and (Paris 1850) 72 pp.

1976 Flee, be silent, rest. For these are the roots of not sinning and the beginnings of salvation.

1977 It is interesting to note that one day of the week – Wednesday – he dedicated to the poor. Claret himself confesses in the Autobiography: the poor know the great love I have for them, and the truth is, the Lord has given me a deep love for the poor.” (n. 562).

1978 1 Cor 9:27: Lest, having preached to others, I myself become a castaway. – Letter written in Madrid, December 6, 1861 (EC, II, p. 401).

1979 Letter to Don Dionisio González, Aranjuez, April 9, 1861 (EC, II, pp. 257-258).

1980 Cf. Gisbert, Lorenzo, Vida portentosa de la seráfica y cándida virgen Santa Catalina de Siena (Gerona 1804) pp. 68-69.

1981 Is 42:4: He shall not be sad.

1982 Claret, A., Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Explained(Madrid 1859) pp. 264-270. Meditation 20 is a résumé of the virtues of Jesus, which the Saint calls “section 3” and, as he explains in the Foreword, “consists of meditations on the virtues we must have and learn from Jesus Christ. St. Ignatius calls it the Second Week” (op. cit., p. 4).

1983 Op. cit., pp. 356-363. This Meditation is titled: “On the Conclusion of Section 4, or on the Illuminative Way, and the Transition to the Unitive Way.” The Saint remarks that “Section 4 also consists of meditations on the virtues of Jesus, but considered in a higher and more perfect way, imitating the way in which He did, suffered and practiced all the virtues. St. Ignatius calls the meditations on these virtues, the Third Week” (op. cit., p. 4).

1984 Mt 2:13: Until I shall tell you.

1985 Sir 4:4, 8.

1986 In another note he adds: “Using an iron plough, the farmer tills the soil and it bears. God, using the wicked, makes the good bear fruit” (MSS Claret II, 38). To his enemies “he treated them like brothers, and he called them as such, and he received them as instruments so the Lord was served to make him the most virtuous.” (declaration of Antonio Barjau: IPV ses. 31, art. 101). Another witness heard “the Servant of God say that it was necessary to allow his enemies to play with him like a cat with a ball of wool.” (Francisco Sansolí: IPM ses. 13, art. 60).

1987 Cf. Mt 26:48-49,57-65,67; 27:17,23-26; Lk 23: 8-11, 18-25,33.

1988 Sir 33:1-14.

1989 Cf. Autob. n. 669.

1990 Cf. Gisbert, Lorenzo, Vida portentosa... (Gerona 1804) pp. 68-69.

1991 Cf. Sir 3:19; 4: 8.

1992 Cf. 1Tit 3:2.

1993 Cf. Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Explained (Madrid 1859) pp. 264-270 and 356-363.

1994 These expressions appear also in a form of a prayer in the Autobiography (n. 233).

1995 Cf. Is 65:1.

1996 Fr. Clement Serrat (future Superior General of the Claretians) declared: “From the Venerable himself and from the members of his household, I am certain that around the 1860’s he retired at midnight and recited the whole rosary from three to four in the morning, after spending three hours in bed out of obedience” (APV, sess. 56).

1997 Lord, to suffer and not to die, to suffer and be scorned for your sake. - But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal 6:14).

1998 Ágreda, María de Jesús de, Mística ciudad de Dios (Amberes 1696), pt. 1, book 2, ch. 12. The title of this chapter reads: “On the Virtue of Temperance that Blessed Mary Had.” In this chapter, Mother Agreda speaks of the meekness of the Blessed Virgin. Claret must have liked the idea that “it was necessary that the clemency of Mary our Lady should have been an instrument proportionate to the clemency which the Lord himself has toward his creatures” (op. cit., p. 176). See The Mystical City of God: Life of the Virgin Mother of God, manifested to Sister Mary of Jesus of Agreda, 1602-1666.< http://www.themostholyrosary.com/mystical-city.htm>.

1999 Cf. Venegas, Miguel, Vida y virtudes del Ven. P. Juan Bautista Zappa (Barcelona 1754) p. 199; cf. Autob. nn. 749-750.

2000 Autob. 751.

2001 Cf. Mt 27:39, 41, 43-44, 49.

2002 2 Tim 2:10: Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation.

2003 “Now and always, all and nothing.”

2004 “My God and everything I have” (St. Francis of Assisi) (cf. Ribadenaira, Pedro, Flos sanctorum [Madrid 1761] III, p. 186). For the English reference see: Ungolino di Monte Santa Maria, The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi, W. Heywood, Trans., (Vintage Spiritual Classic 1998).