Posted on 10/24/2002 6:54:14 PM PDT by Lady In Blue
Spanish Light of the Church "Saint Anthony Mary Claret"
These books have an imprimatur of the Church and are available from Tan Books.
From a work by Saint Anthony Mary Claret,bishop(L'Egoismo vinto, Romae 1869,60)
Driven by the fire of the Holy Spirit, the holy apostles traveled throughout the earth. Inflamed with the same fire, apostolic missionaries have reached, are now reaching and will continue to reach the ends of the earth,from one pole to the other,in order to proclaim the word of God. They are deservedly able to apply to themselves those wods of the apostle Paul: The love of Christ drives us on.
The love of Christ arouses us, urges us to run, and to fly,lifted on the wings of holy zeal. The man who truly loves God also loves his neighbor. The truly zealous man is also one who loves,but he stands on a higher plane of love so that the more he is inflamed by love, the more urgently zeal drives him on. But if anyone lacks this zeal, then it is evident that love and charity have been extinguished in his heart. The zealous man desires and achieves all great things and he labors strenuously so that God may always be better known, loved and served in this world and in the life to come, for this holy love is without end.
Because he is concerned also for his neighbor, the man of zeal works to fulfill his desire that all men be content on this earth and happy and blessed in their heavenly homeland,that all may be saved,and that no one may perish for ever, or offend God, or remain even for a moment in sin. Such are the concerns we observe in the holy apostles and in all who are driven by the apostolic spirit.
For myself, I say this to you: The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes,he enkindles that flame; he desires and works with all his strength to inflame all men with the fire of God's love. Nothing deters him:he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
From today's Liturgy of the Hours.
God's ability to forgive and call His children to Him is amazing, isn't it? If only more people realized this in our world today. I guess we just have one heck of a job to do to let them know that they can be forgiven.
Bumping one day late for 10-24-04, St. Anthony Mary Claret
BTTT on the Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, 10-24-05!
BTTT on the Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, October 24, 2006!
God calls each one of us to be a saint.
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October 24, 2006
St. Anthony Claret
(1807-1870)
The "spiritual father of Cuba" was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queens chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris and to the First Vatican Council.
In his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona, he learned Latin and printing: the future priest and publisher was preparing. Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit, but went on to become one of Spains most popular preachers. He spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Her rosary, it was said, was never out of his hand. At 42, beginning with five young priests, he founded a religious institute of missionaries, known today as the Claretians. He was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for stamping out concubinage and giving instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin (whose release from prison Anthony had obtained) slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassins death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods for the familys own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash cropsugar. Besides all his religious writings are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights. He was called back to Spain for a job he did not relishbeing chaplain for the queen. He went on three conditions: He would reside away from the palace, he would come only to hear the queens confession and instruct the children and he would be exempt from court functions. In the revolution of 1868, he fled with the queens party to Paris, where he preached to the Spanish colony. All his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic press. He founded the Religious Publishing House, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain, and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets. At Vatican I, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility, he won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore remarked of him, "There goes a true saint." He died in exile near the border of Spain at the age of 63. Quote:
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