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Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Catholic Apologetics Information

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13. I simply can't understand how other priests who believe the same truths that I do, and as we all<br />

should, do not preach and exhort people to save themselves from falling into hell. 13<br />

14. I wonder too how the laity, men and women who have the faith, can help crying out. What if a<br />

fire broke out in a house in the middle of the night and the people in the house and in the neighborhood<br />

were asleep and unaware of the danger? Wouldn't the first person who noticed the fire run through the<br />

streets shouting "fire, fire in such and such a house!" Well, why not shout "hellfire!" to awaken those<br />

who are asleep in their sins, lest they awake to find themselves burning in everlasting fire?<br />

15. This idea of a lost eternity that began to move me so vividly at the tender age of five 14 and that<br />

has stayed with me ever since and that, God willing, I will never forget is the mainspring and goad of my<br />

zeal for the salvation of souls.<br />

16. In time I felt a further stimulus for zeal of which I shall speak later, namely, the thought that<br />

sin not only condemns my neighbor but is an offense against God, my Father 15 . This idea breaks my<br />

heart with pain and makes me want to run like… And I tell myself, "If a sin is infinitely malicious, then<br />

preventing a sin is preventing an infinite offense against my God, against my good Father."<br />

17. If a son had a very kind father and saw that he was being maltreated for no reason at all,<br />

wouldn't the son defend the father? If the son saw that this good father was being led to execution,<br />

wouldn't he do all that he could to set him free? Well, then, what should I be doing for the honor of my<br />

Father, who is offended with such indifference and who, though innocent, is being led to Calvary to be,<br />

as St. Paul says, crucified anew by sin? Wouldn't it be a crime to remain silent? What would be the sense<br />

of not doing everything we could? My God, my Father! Help me to prevent all sins, or at least one sin,<br />

even if I should be cut to pieces in the attempt.<br />

Chapter III<br />

FIRST INCLINATIONS<br />

18. For my greater embarrassment I should like to quote the words of the author of the Book of<br />

Wisdom (8:19): "I was a boy of happy disposition. I had received a good soul as my lot." That is, I<br />

received a good nature or disposition from God, out of his sheer goodness 16 .<br />

19. I remember that during the war of independence, which lasted from 1808 to 1814, the people<br />

of Sallent were so frightened of the French--and with good reason, since the French had burned the city<br />

of Manresa and the town of Calders, near Sallent 17 --that everyone fled when they heard the news that the<br />

French army was on its way. During the first evacuation I recollect being carried on someone's<br />

shoulders; but during the last evacuation, when I was four or five, I went on foot and gave grandfather<br />

Clara, my mother's father, a helping hand 18 . It was at night, and his eyesight was failing, and I guided<br />

him through the obstacles with such patience and kindness that the poor old man was very glad to see<br />

that I hadn't run off to join my brothers and cousins who had abandoned the two of us. I always showed<br />

him a great deal of affection until he died, and not only him but also all those who were elderly and<br />

disabled.<br />

20. I couldn't stand for anyone to make fun of them, as young boys are often wont to do, despite<br />

13 The reason is, of course, their lack of faith. To live a life like <strong>Claret</strong>'s, consumed by zeal, requires a special movement of the Holy<br />

Spirit<br />

14 "I used to think frequently on eternity and it made an even greater impression on me then than it does now" (<strong>Claret</strong>, Resume,<br />

Collected Writings, vol. 7, p. 446).<br />

15 In the mature years of his apostolic life, <strong>Claret</strong> reveals the motives for his zeal according to a more objective scheme, in which the<br />

glory of God and love for the Father take precedence over the desire for his neighbor's happiness. (Cf. pars. 203 ff.)<br />

16 "God gave <strong>Anthony</strong> <strong>Mary</strong> <strong>Claret</strong> the nature that best suited his apostolic mission: practical intelligence dominating the speculative;<br />

extraordinary willpower; optimism and faith in his own initiatives; ease in adapting to circumstances; balance and dynamism" (J.<br />

Puigdesens, The Spirit . . ., pp. 405,145).<br />

17 Manresa was three hours from Sallent by railroad; Calders, six. Manresa was taken and burnt by the French in 1810 and 1811. In<br />

1812 they returned, and the <strong>Saint</strong>, who was a little more than four years old at the time, refers to this attack<br />

18 John Clara Reguant (1738-1814) was, at this time, seventy-four years old.<br />

10

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