FEBRUARY
09
1848. Claret accompanies Bishop Codina on visits to several bishops and the nuncio Brunelli; through him, he learns that Fr. Luciano Casadevall has been appointed Bishop of Vic, a seat that was vacant for 13 years. On the same day, Claret writes to congratulate him.
1860. Claret accompanies the royals to a thanksgiving event in the Church of Atocha (Madrid) for a Spanish victory in the Moroccan war.
EARLY EXPANSION (1870-1899)
THE FOUNDATION IN MEXICOThe idea of founding in Mexico had already passed through the mind of Father Claret while he was in Rome for the occasion of the Council. But his enthusiasm was limited due to the political situation. It was in 1883 when this situation had improved that he could talk seriously about the subject. A nephew of the Archbishop of Mexico City, a canon, met with Fr. Xifre in Barcelona and proposed the foundation. Once accepted, it was Fr. Domingo Sola who was in charge of carrying it out, on November 15th. The first city chosen was Toluca. On August 3, 1884, they took possession of the church and the house. In order to avoid the drawback of the legal norm on the number of members per community, Fr. Sola planned the erection of a school and another house adjoining the church. The missions still took precedence in the apostolate. And in 1889 a house of Spiritual Exercises was inaugurated. In 1887 the house of Jesus Maria was founded in the Mexican capital, and in 1892 that of San Hipolito.
Luis de Madrazo
Court Painter (1825-1897)Madrid (Spain). Painter, son of the painter Jose de Madrazo and brother of Federico. He painted portraits and thematic and religious paintings. In Rome he met one of the creators of the Nazarene movement, Friedrich Overbeck, in whose aesthetic parameters he developed his art. He lived in Paris, Munich, Venice and Berlin. In the last decade of the 19th century, he settled in Pompeii together with painters Bernardino Montañes and Francisco Sainz. Returning to Madrid, he devoted himself basically to teaching and painting portraits for noblemen, and Father Claret among others. Princess Isabella, who so many times personally visited the community of the Claretian Missionaries of Segovia and who boasted of having gone to confession many times with them as a child, gave them the valuable picture of the Founder from Madrazo in 1888, probably the most valuable at present. It is conserved in the Provincial Curia of the Claretians of Santiago, in Madrid.
An Intense Spiritual Life
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 Fortian 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 of the same city, 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. (Aut 86)
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. 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. (Aut 87)
FOR PERSONAL REFELCTION
Claret, in his time as a seminarian, led a very intense and disciplined rhythm of spiritual life.
- What methods did you use to cultivate your spiritual life during your initial formation?
- What is the spiritual rhythm of your daily life now?
The personal project is a means for advancing in the different dimensions of missionary life.
- Do you value it? Do you make it? Do you review it? Do you update it?
and also united to God, none of these can molest it.
Thus, then, the soul is in the enjoyment now
of habitual sweetness and tranquility that never fail it.”
(St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, XXIV. 5)