Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Catholic Apologetics Information

13. I simply can't understand how other priests who believe the same truths that I do, and as we all
should, do not preach and exhort people to save themselves from falling into hell. 13
14. I wonder too how the laity, men and women who have the faith, can help crying out. What if a
fire broke out in a house in the middle of the night and the people in the house and in the neighborhood
were asleep and unaware of the danger? Wouldn't the first person who noticed the fire run through the
streets shouting "fire, fire in such and such a house!" Well, why not shout "hellfire!" to awaken those
who are asleep in their sins, lest they awake to find themselves burning in everlasting fire?
15. This idea of a lost eternity that began to move me so vividly at the tender age of five 14 and that
has stayed with me ever since and that, God willing, I will never forget is the mainspring and goad of my
zeal for the salvation of souls.
16. In time I felt a further stimulus for zeal of which I shall speak later, namely, the thought that
sin not only condemns my neighbor but is an offense against God, my Father 15 . This idea breaks my
heart with pain and makes me want to run like… And I tell myself, "If a sin is infinitely malicious, then
preventing a sin is preventing an infinite offense against my God, against my good Father."
17. If a son had a very kind father and saw that he was being maltreated for no reason at all,
wouldn't the son defend the father? If the son saw that this good father was being led to execution,
wouldn't he do all that he could to set him free? Well, then, what should I be doing for the honor of my
Father, who is offended with such indifference and who, though innocent, is being led to Calvary to be,
as St. Paul says, crucified anew by sin? Wouldn't it be a crime to remain silent? What would be the sense
of not doing everything we could? My God, my Father! Help me to prevent all sins, or at least one sin,
even if I should be cut to pieces in the attempt.
Chapter III
FIRST INCLINATIONS
18. For my greater embarrassment I should like to quote the words of the author of the Book of
Wisdom (8:19): "I was a boy of happy disposition. I had received a good soul as my lot." That is, I
received a good nature or disposition from God, out of his sheer goodness 16 .
19. I remember that during the war of independence, which lasted from 1808 to 1814, the people
of Sallent were so frightened of the French--and with good reason, since the French had burned the city
of Manresa and the town of Calders, near Sallent 17 --that everyone fled when they heard the news that the
French army was on its way. During the first evacuation I recollect being carried on someone's
shoulders; but during the last evacuation, when I was four or five, I went on foot and gave grandfather
Clara, my mother's father, a helping hand 18 . It was at night, and his eyesight was failing, and I guided
him through the obstacles with such patience and kindness that the poor old man was very glad to see
that I hadn't run off to join my brothers and cousins who had abandoned the two of us. I always showed
him a great deal of affection until he died, and not only him but also all those who were elderly and
disabled.
20. I couldn't stand for anyone to make fun of them, as young boys are often wont to do, despite
13 The reason is, of course, their lack of faith. To live a life like Claret's, consumed by zeal, requires a special movement of the Holy
Spirit
14 "I used to think frequently on eternity and it made an even greater impression on me then than it does now" (Claret, Resume,
Collected Writings, vol. 7, p. 446).
15 In the mature years of his apostolic life, Claret reveals the motives for his zeal according to a more objective scheme, in which the
glory of God and love for the Father take precedence over the desire for his neighbor's happiness. (Cf. pars. 203 ff.)
16 "God gave Anthony Mary Claret the nature that best suited his apostolic mission: practical intelligence dominating the speculative;
extraordinary willpower; optimism and faith in his own initiatives; ease in adapting to circumstances; balance and dynamism" (J.
Puigdesens, The Spirit . . ., pp. 405,145).
17 Manresa was three hours from Sallent by railroad; Calders, six. Manresa was taken and burnt by the French in 1810 and 1811. In
1812 they returned, and the Saint, who was a little more than four years old at the time, refers to this attack
18 John Clara Reguant (1738-1814) was, at this time, seventy-four years old.
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