Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Catholic Apologetics Information

95. I had the following experience while I was in my second year of philosophy at Vich. That
winter I had caught a bad cold and was ordered to bed; so I obeyed. One day as I lay there at about tenthirty
in the morning, I felt a terrible temptation. I turned to Mary, cal]ed on my guardian angel, and
prayed to all my name-saints as well as to those to whom I have a special devotion. I fixed my attention
on indifferent objects so as to distract myself and forget about the temptation. I made the sign of the
cross on my forehead so that the Lord would free me from evil thoughts, but everything I did was in
vain.
96. Finally I turned over on my other side, to see if the temptation would go away, when suddenly
I saw the Blessed Virgin Mary, very beautiful and gracious. Her dress was crimson, her mantle blue, and
in her arms I saw a huge garland of the most beautiful roses. I had seen lovely artificial and real roses in
Barcelona but none as lovely as these. How beautiful it all was! As I lay face up in bed, I saw myself as
a beautiful white child kneeling with hands joined. I never lost sight of the Blessed Virgin, on whom I
kept my eyes fixed. I remember distinctly thinking to myself, "She is a woman and yet she doesn't give
you any evil thoughts; on the contrary, she has taken them all away from you." The Blessed Virgin
spoke to me and said, "Anthony, this crown is yours if you overcome." Next I saw the Blessed Virgin
place on my head the crown of roses that she held in her right hand (besides the garland, which she held
between her arm and her right side). I saw myself crowned with roses in the person of that little child,
and I was speechless.
97. I also saw a band of saints standing at her right hand, in an attitude of prayer. I didn't
recognize them, except that one seemed to be St. Stephen. I believed then, as I do now, that those were
my patron saints praying and interceding for me so that I wouldn't fall into the temptation. Then, on my
left, I saw a great crowd of demons in battle array, like soldiers who fall back and close ranks again after
a battle. I said to myself, "What a host of them there is--and so fearful!" During all of this I remained as
if caught by surprise, without quite realizing what was happening to me. As soon as it had passed, I felt
free of the temptation and filled with a joy so deep that I couldn't grasp what had been going on within
me.
98. I am quite sure that I was neither asleep nor suffering from dizziness or anything else that
could have caused a state of illusion. What made me believe that what had happened was real, and a
special grace from Mary, was the fact that from that moment on I was free from temptation and for many
years stayed free of any temptation against chastity. If later there have been any such temptations, they
have been so insignificant that they hardly deserve to be called temptations. Glory to Mary! Victory
through Mary! 60
Chapter XII
ORDINATIONS
99. The bishop would not ordain anyone who was enrolled in the complete course of studies until
enrolled Claret in the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also enrolled him in that of the Heart of Mary, established at the
Jesuit College in Manresa, an offshoot of the Primaries of St. Mary ad Pienam and of St. Eustace of Rome. (Ramos, An Apostle of
Mary, p. 25).
60 In other documents the Saint tells of the same vision in the third person: Method for Giving Missions (Cuba, 1857), p. 63; Origin
of the Trisagion (Barcelona, 1856), pp. 22 ff. On various occasion she preached about it, again in the third person, but his emotional
tone gave him away. (F. Aguilar, Life, p. 24; various witnesses at the Inforrnative Process, Tarragona, session 14;ApostolicProcess,
Madrid, session 50, Vich, session 22.)
This vision and the consequent grace of chastity were of transcendent importance in the life of the Saint. It came at a time
when he was discovering in Scripture the roots of his vocation to the apostolate. He himself understood the far-reaching apostolic
implications of this vision at the time of his ordination to the diaconate (par. 101), for St. Stephen was transformed from a local patron
to a principle of vocational identity. (Cf. "A Student Devoted to Mary," Writings, p. 433.) Furthermore, he experienced in his own
person God's strategy of conquering the Serpent through the Woman, a strategy he was to expound doctrinally in his "Pastoral Letter
on the Immaculate Conception," and in "Egoism Overcome." From yet another standpoint, virginity in the service of the Kingdom of
God is a guarantee of zeal, witness, and spiritual fruitfulness.
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