Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Catholic Apologetics Information

of the time he ate only bread and fruit.
230. His sermons usually lasted two hours and were so fluent and varied that they could hardly
have been shorter. He spoke so clearly that all could understand him, and no one ever grew tired of
listening to him. Day and night his only thought was how he might increase God's glory, reform morals,
and convert sinners.
In preparing his sermons he avoided using many books or elaborate concepts, and his talks were
relatively free of scriptural allusions, far-fetched examples, and other such finery. With a simple thought
and a single cry, he could set the hearts of his listeners afire.
231. While Father Avila was preaching in Granada, another preacher, the most famous of his day,
was also engaged in preaching there. People would leave this preacher's sermons crossing themselves in
amazement at the many fine and profitable things that had been so beautifully said. But when they left
Master Avila's sermons they all went out with bowed heads, not saying a word to one another, rapt and
repentant from the sheer force of the truth, virtue, and excellence of the preacher. 135
232. His preaching was directed mainly toward withdrawing sinners from their unhappy state by
showing them the ugliness of sin, the wrath of God, the awful punishment that awaits the impenitent, and
the reward that awaits the truly contrite and repentant. God gave his words such power that Luis of
Granada says: "One day I heard him preach a sermon on the wickedness of those who for carnal pleasure
do not hesitate to offend God, basing his remarks on a text in Jeremiah, 'Be astonished, you heavens, at
this.' In truth, he spoke with such great dread of spirit, that it seemed to me that the very walls of the
church began to shake.'' 136
233. O my God and my Father, may I know you and make you known; love you and make you
loved; serve you and make you served; praise you and make all creatures praise you. Grant, my Father,
that all sinners be converted, all the just persevere in grace, and all of us attain to eternal glory. Amen.
Chapter XIII
THE EXAMPLE AND ENCOURAGEMENT I RECEIVED FROM CERTAIN WOMEN
SAINTS
234. If I was moved by the example of men saints, as I have said in the preceding chapter, I was
moved still more by the example of women saints. How deeply they impressed me! I would ask myself,
"If a woman has such feelings and desires and does so much to save souls, what ought I, a priest,
however unworthy, be doing?" The reading of their lives affected me so much that I copied out excerpts
of their words and works, some of which I wish to quote here.
235. From the Life of St. Catherine of Siena. 137 "She had a singular devotion and love toward those
saints who spent their lives working for the salvation of souls, and since St. Dominic had founded his
Order to spread the faith and save souls, she revered him so much that when she saw some of his friars
passing by, she noted where they had set their feet and later, with all humility, would kiss their
footprints." 138
236. "Magdalen at Jesus' feet chose the better part, but not the best, says St. Augustine; for the best
is to unite both parts, the active and contemplative, as St. Catherine of Siena did." 139
"She regarded all as bathed in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ and, considering the many upon
whom the benefits of the Redemption are wasted, she wept tenderly. Especially during her ecstasies she
135 Avila, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 50.
136 Ibid., 49.
137 St. Catherine had a great influence on the spirit of St. Anthony Mary Claret. He wrote to a friend: "I am sending you the Life of St.
Catherine of Siena, who is my teacher and guide. Whenever I read her life, I am so moved that I have to have the book in one hand
and a handkerchief in the other, to dry the tears it causes me" (Correspondence, Letter 25). From St. Catherine he derived the practice
of the "interior cell," in order to keep the presence of God in the midst of his apostolate, as he explains in his pamphlet Temple and
Palace of the Lord, Our God (Barcelona, 1866). He chose the saint as a co-patron of his missionaries.
138 Fr. L. Gisbert, Life of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of Preachers (Valencia: Peleguer, 1784), p. 9.
139 Ibid., p. 1 4
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