Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Catholic Apologetics Information

84. On the following day we went to see the bishop, Paul of Jesus Corcuera, who received us
kindly. 48 So that I might have more time for study and my particular devotions, I was stationed with the
Steward of the Bishop's Palace, Msgr. Fortian Bres, a very good priest who showed me a great deal of
affection. 49 I lived with him throughout my stay in Vich, and later whenever I visited Vich I was a guest
in his house. This good man was my sponsor when I was consecrated Archbishop of Cuba in the
cathedral at Vich.
85. In the early days of my stay in Vich, I asked whether anyone could recommend a good priest
to hear my general confession. I was advised to go to a priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, Father
Peter Bach. 50 I made a general confession of my whole life to him and afterward always made my
weekly confessions with this very good director. It is worth noting that God has used three Fathers of the
Oratory of St. Philip Neri to counsel and direct me at the most crucial moments in my spiritual life:
Brother Paul and Fathers Anthony Amigo, Canti, and Peter Bach.
86. After arriving in Vich, I confessed and received Communion every week, but after a while the
director had me confess twice a week and receive Communion four times a week. I served Mass daily
for Father Bres. Every day I made a half- hour of mental prayer, visited the Blessed Sacrament during
Forty Hours' Devotion, and also visited the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Dominican Church,
rain or shine. And even though the streets were filled with snow, I never omitted my visits to the Blessed
Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. 51
87. Every day at table we read the life of the saint of the day. Furthermore, with the director's
approval, on three days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I took the discipline and on Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday I wore the cilice. 52 Through all these devotional practices I returned to my first
fervor, without slacking off in my studies to which I applied myself to the utmost of my ability, always
with the purest and most upright intention possible. 53
88. During my first year of philosophy, in the midst of all my studies and devotions, I never lost
sight of my longed-for Charterhouse. 54 I had a large picture of St. Bruno on my desk. Nearly every time I
went to confession I spoke to my director of my desire to enter the Carthusians, and so he came to
believe that God was calling me there. Thus he wrote to the Father Prior, 55 and both agreed I should go
at the end of that year's course. He also gave me two letters, one for the Father Prior, the other for a
religious he knew there.
48 His Excellency, Bishop Paul of Jesus Corcuera (1776-1835), a native of Cadiz, canon of Siguenza, and rector of the seminary, was
elected Bishop of Vich December 21, 1824, was consecrated in Madrid April 17, 1825, and took possession of his diocese on August
15 of that year. St. Anthony Mary Claret always held him in great esteem and veneration as a model of episcopal initiative,
particularly in the formation of seminarians
49 Don Fortian Bres had already been the Steward of Bishops Veyan and Strauch. He received Anthony as a famulus, but soon
ascertaining his true worth, he became his friend. Claret repaid his benefactor and friend, even to the extent of performing a miracle
for him during an illness. (Cf. C. Fernandez, The Blessed, vol. 1, pp. 174 ff.)
50 Father Peter Bach (1796-1866) entered the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Vich in 1824. He was expelled in 1835 and took refuge in
France and Rome. He returned to Spain to restore the Oratory at Vich, where he was superior for thirteen years. He founded an order
of nuns called "dels Saits," an asylum for sick priests, and St. Joseph's College for poor seminarians. (Cf. Oratorian Fathers,
Biographical Souvenir of Fr. PeterBach [Vich, 1915].)
51 The Constitutions of the Seminary prescribed a fortnightly confession. To help them meditate, Bishop Corcuera regularly gave the
seminarians copies of The Art of Commending Oneself to God by P. Bellati, S.J. One of Claret's favorite themes as a seminarian was
the Passion, especially that moment "when after the scourging He fell to the ground, bathed in his own blood. During this meditation
he always felt the most fervent emotions" (Claretian Archives, Vich, par. 627). Faithfulness in visiting the Blessed Sacrament and the
Blessed Virgin required a special effort, given the rigorous climate of Vich.
52 Through the indiscreet spying of one of Don Fortian's maids, we know that he took the discipline at night in the attic and that
he put on a crown of thorns as well. While he was scourging himself he would repeat, "Lord, you on the Cross and I in a cozy
bed!" He fasted every Saturday and on the vigil of Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. (Informative Process, Vich, session 37.)
53 "This cleric (Claret, writing of himself in the third person in The Well-Instructed Seminarian) remembers what the Apostle said:
'In God we live and move and have our being' (Acts 8:28), and so he considers himself like a fish in the water or a bird in the air.
Thus he is always in the presence of God, whom he fears as a Lord who sees him, whom he loves as a Father who gives him all good
things, whom he invokes continually and whom he praises and serves without ceasing, directing . everything to his greater honor and
glory" (I, p. 1, sec. 1, chap. 8). As reminder of the presence of God, Claret used to put small pebbles in }s shoes. (Informative
Process, Vich, session 37.)
54 The Charterhouse of Monte-Alegre was founded in 1270 near Mataro and moved to Conrería in 1415. Burnt in 1835, it has been
inhabited since 1901, with the sole exception of the Spanish civil war period
55 Don Ildefonso Falgas, a Carthusian in 1804, prior (1825-32), definitor (1832), Vicar General of the Spanish congregation (1833
until its dispersal in 1835).
20