Born in Spain in 1807, Anthony began his working life as a weaver in the textile mills of Barcelona. Always eager to improve himself, he studied Latin and learned the printing trade, skills that would later prove invaluable in his apostolate. Ordained a priest at the age of twenty-eight, he hoped to enter religious life, but ill health prevented him from pursuing his desire to become either a Carthusian monk or a Jesuit. Instead, he discovered his vocation as a missionary preacher, becoming one of the most celebrated evangelists in Spain.
For ten years, Anthony threw himself into the demanding work of a missionary, traveling from town to town throughout Catalonia and the Canary Islands, preaching parish missions and conducting retreats. He went wherever souls needed to be awakened to the Gospel, often preaching several times a day and spending long hours hearing confessions. His sermons called sinners to repentance, urged lukewarm Catholics to renew their faith, and reminded the faithful of the eternal importance of their salvation. He preached with such fervor that crowds gathered wherever he went, drawn by his simplicity, conviction, and evident love for Christ. The Holy Eucharist was at the heart of his spiritual life, while his devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary shaped his preaching and his desire to lead others to holiness.
Recognizing that his missionary work needed to continue beyond his own lifetime, Anthony founded a congregation of missionary priests in 1849. These priests, known today as the Claretians, would carry the Gospel to communities far beyond Spain.
In 1850, Anthony was appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, where he found a diocese in urgent need of spiritual renewal. He did not remain at his desk issuing instructions. Instead, he set out among his people, traveling through towns and rural districts, preaching, hearing confessions, administering the sacraments, and instructing the faithful. He visited neglected communities and sought to bring the Church’s ministry to people who had long been deprived of adequate pastoral care.
His zeal was matched by a concern for the material welfare of those entrusted to him. He defended the dignity of those who were enslaved, insisted that couples living together outside marriage regularize their unions through Christian marriage, and encouraged poor families to establish small farms so they could provide for themselves rather than remain dependent upon powerful landowners. These reforms won him the affection of many ordinary people but aroused bitter opposition among those whose interests were threatened. His commitment to the Gospel would eventually cost him dearly. An assassin hired by his enemies attacked him with a knife, leaving him seriously wounded. Yet Anthony responded with remarkable Christian charity, forgiving his assailant and helping to have his death sentence commuted to imprisonment.
Recalled to Spain, Anthony reluctantly accepted appointment as chaplain to Queen Isabella II. Even in this position, he continued his apostolic work. Throughout his life, he understood the power of the printed word to spread the faith beyond the reach of the spoken sermon. He founded a religious publishing house, an important Catholic publishing venture in Spain, and wrote or published approximately two hundred books and pamphlets. Through these works he sought to instruct the faithful, defend Catholic teaching, and bring the truths of Christianity into homes and communities throughout the country.
When revolution forced the royal court into exile in 1868, Anthony accompanied it to France, where he continued preaching to Spanish-speaking communities. His missionary spirit remained undiminished by political upheaval, declining health, or the hardships of exile.
At the First Vatican Council in 1870, Anthony vigorously defended the doctrine of papal infallibility. His holiness and conviction impressed his fellow bishops, and Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore reportedly exclaimed, “There goes a true saint!” Frail in health but steadfast in faith, Anthony died in exile at Fontfroide, France, on October 24, 1870, at the age of sixty-three.
The life and ministry of St. Anthony Mary Claret reminds us that evangelization demands courage, perseverance, and practical charity. Whether preaching to crowded churches, traveling through neglected communities, defending the dignity of the oppressed, or spreading the faith through the printed word, he sought to bring every aspect of human life under the transforming light of Christ.
O God, who for the evangelization of peoples didst strengthen the Bishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret with admirable charity and long-suffering: grant, through his intercession, that, seeking the things that are thine, we may earnestly devote ourselves to winning our brethren for Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.