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Saint Anthony Mary Claret is remembered as a man who burned with love for God and for souls. He lived in a time of great change in Spain and the Church, yet he stood firm in his mission — to preach the Gospel everywhere and in every way possible. His life was full of travel, hardship, and courage, but also filled with deep faith and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Born into a humble family, Anthony discovered early that God had given him both a hardworking spirit and a great desire to serve others. Though he began life as a weaver and later dreamed of becoming a successful designer, his heart was restless for something more lasting than worldly success. That restlessness led him toward a life fully devoted to Christ.
He became a priest, a missionary, and later an archbishop, but above all, he was a man who never stopped working for the salvation of souls. He founded the Claretians — a congregation of priests and brothers who continue his mission of evangelization around the world. Despite being misunderstood and even persecuted, he never stopped preaching and writing about the love of God.
Today, Saint Anthony Mary Claret is honored for his tireless service to the Church, his deep devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and his courageous defense of truth. His feast day is celebrated on October 24, a day to remember his unshakable faith and his desire to bring every heart closer to God.
Quick Facts About Saint Anthony Mary Claret
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Born | December 23, 1807, in Sallent, near Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | October 24, 1870, in Fontfroide, near Narbonne, France |
| Category | Archbishop, Founder, Missionary, Religious Priest |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast Day | October 24 (previously observed on October 23 in some regions before the reform of the liturgical calendar) |
| Beatified | February 25, 1934, by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | May 7, 1950, by Pope Pius XII |
Early Life
Anthony Mary Claret was born on December 23, 1807, in the small textile town of Sallent, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. His baptismal name was Antoni Claret i Clarà , the Catalan form of Anthony Claret. He was the fifth of eleven children born to John Claret and Josephine Clarà , a deeply Catholic couple who worked as wool weavers. Their family home was modest, filled with prayer, work, and discipline. From his parents, Anthony learned both the value of labor and the habit of daily prayer, which would shape his entire life.
In Sallent, the rhythm of life was simple but demanding. Families rose early to work in small weaving shops, and Sundays were centered around the parish church. The people of Catalonia were known for their strong faith and hardworking nature, and the young Anthony absorbed both. Even as a child, he loved to visit the Blessed Sacrament and was drawn to prayer, yet he also showed a keen mind for business and design — a gift that would lead him in an unexpected direction before his priestly calling became clear.
When he grew older, Anthony worked beside his father in the family weaving business. He was skillful, intelligent, and ambitious. His interest in the textile trade led him to dream of becoming a successful industrial designer. For a time, he went to Barcelona to study weaving techniques and improve his craft. The city, busy with trade and filled with temptation, exposed him to worldly ambitions. Though he did not fall into serious sin, he later admitted that his heart became overly focused on success, pride, and self-achievement. God used that restlessness to awaken in him a deeper desire — not just to create fine fabrics, but to help souls find their true purpose.
It was during those years of inner struggle that Anthony realized that worldly success could never satisfy him. He began to feel a strong spiritual emptiness that no material comfort could fill. This realization marked the beginning of his gradual conversion — a turning of his heart from personal ambition to total dedication to God’s will.
Religious Life and Calling
Anthony’s turning point came when he was in Barcelona, surrounded by the noise and ambition of city life. Though talented and industrious, he began to feel an inner emptiness that no business success could satisfy. One Sunday, while hearing the Gospel at Mass, he felt pierced by the words of Christ:
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
That moment stayed in his heart like a quiet echo, pushing him to ask what God truly wanted from his life.
He soon left the city and returned to Sallent to seek silence and prayer. During this period, he felt a strong call to the priesthood but hesitated at first. He feared that his past ambitions and lack of deep study might make him unworthy. Still, the call persisted. He began studying Latin privately while working in the parish, and in 1829, he entered the Seminary of Vic, determined to give his life completely to God.
As a seminarian, Anthony was known for his discipline and purity of heart. He loved the Eucharist deeply and developed a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he would later honor as the Immaculate Heart of Mary, his lifelong inspiration. Yet, his path was not without challenge. He suffered periods of scrupulosity — fearing he was not holy enough — and battled frequent temptations to return to his earlier ambitions. But prayer, confession, and devotion to Mary sustained him.
He was ordained a priest on June 13, 1835, in the Diocese of Vic. Shortly afterward, he offered to serve as a missionary abroad, even writing to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Rome, asking to be sent to foreign lands. However, poor health forced him to remain in Spain. Though disappointed, he accepted this as God’s will, saying,
If I cannot go abroad, then I will be a missionary here.
From that moment, his entire priesthood became a living mission. He began preaching parish missions across Catalonia with great zeal, often walking long distances to reach even the smallest villages. His preaching was simple, fiery, and full of love — speaking directly to the hearts of the poor, the farmers, and the forgotten.
In 1849, together with five other priests, he founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — now known as the Claretians — to continue spreading the Gospel in every part of the world. This founding marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life, one that would unite his burning love for God with his gift for leadership and teaching.
Major Contributions or Miracles
After founding the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1849, Saint Anthony Mary Claret continued to live with tireless energy for evangelization. His life became a constant mission of preaching, writing, reforming, and guiding souls toward God. He saw himself as a “servant of the Word,” believing that the Gospel should reach everyone — rich or poor, learned or simple.
He preached hundreds of parish missions throughout Catalonia, the Canary Islands, and Cuba, where he was later appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba in 1850 by Pope Pius IX. When he arrived in Cuba, he found the Church in deep need of renewal. Many parishes had no resident priests, moral life among the faithful had weakened, and slavery and social injustice were common. Claret began by visiting every parish on foot or horseback, preaching reform, encouraging confession, and promoting the rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
He also founded schools, hospitals, and farming cooperatives to help people live with dignity. He created the Religious of Mary Immaculate (Claretian Sisters) with Venerable MarÃa Antonia ParÃs, to support education and the spiritual care of women. His efforts helped revive Catholic life across Cuba.
Saint Anthony was not only a preacher but also a remarkable writer. Over his lifetime, he wrote more than 200 books and pamphlets, many focused on Christian living, morality, and Marian devotion. His most famous work, The Autobiography of St. Anthony Mary Claret, was written under obedience and reveals his inner struggles, humility, and zeal for souls. His writings were simple but powerful, reaching ordinary people who could not easily access formal theological works.
Many who heard his missions spoke of their hearts being deeply moved to conversion. Though not all his miracles were officially recorded, several well-attested events were documented by witnesses. During his time in Cuba, he was said to have healed the sick through prayer, foretold future events, and once escaped an assassination attempt unharmed when a man stabbed him during a mission. The wound bled, but the saint forgave his attacker immediately, saying,
May God forgive you as I do.
His compassion and calm spirit deeply impressed those around him.
Later in Spain, while serving as confessor to Queen Isabella II, Claret used his influence to encourage the Queen toward moral reform and to promote social works for the poor. Despite court opposition and political attacks, he remained humble and obedient, always reminding others that his only goal was the salvation of souls.
Through his preaching, teaching, and example, Saint Anthony Mary Claret became one of the 19th century’s greatest missionary figures. His Congregation — the Claretians — continues his mission today in education, publishing, and evangelization around the world.
Suffering, Persecution, or Martyrdom
Saint Anthony Mary Claret’s life of service was filled with both spiritual fruit and deep suffering. He never sought comfort or praise, and because of his fearless preaching and defense of truth, he faced strong opposition from political leaders, worldly people, and even some within the Church. His suffering was not a single moment of martyrdom by death, but a long and painful martyrdom of misunderstanding, exile, and persecution.
During his years as Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Claret confronted many injustices — slavery, corruption, and moral decay. His efforts to reform society angered wealthy landowners and government officials who profited from these wrongs. They saw him as a threat to their control. When he spoke against the mistreatment of slaves and promoted honest business, he was met with insults and false accusations. In 1856, during a public mission in HolguÃn, a man stabbed him in the face and wrist as he left the pulpit. Though badly wounded, Claret’s first response was forgiveness. He asked for the attacker to be pardoned and prayed for him, saying that mercy was worth more than revenge.
After his return to Spain in 1857, Pope Pius IX appointed him confessor to Queen Isabella II. This position placed him at the heart of Spanish politics, where his commitment to morality again brought hostility. The royal court was divided between faith and worldliness, and Claret’s insistence on Christian virtue earned him enemies among those who sought power and pleasure. Newspapers mocked him, and false rumors spread that he controlled the Queen’s decisions. Through it all, he kept silent, saying,
The truth needs no defense when God Himself is its witness.
When revolution broke out in 1868, Queen Isabella was forced into exile, and Claret followed her into France out of loyalty and obedience. The years of exile were painful for him — far from his congregation, constantly attacked by political pamphlets, and physically weakened. Yet he bore every humiliation with peace, seeing his suffering as a way to share in the cross of Christ.
He spent his last years in solitude and prayer, living in the Cistercian monastery of Fontfroide, near Narbonne, France. Even there, his health declined, and he continued to be watched by those who mistrusted his influence. Still, he offered his suffering to God for the Church, for his missionaries, and for the conversion of sinners.
Though he was not a martyr by blood, Saint Anthony Mary Claret truly lived a martyrdom of charity — giving his strength, health, and reputation entirely for the love of God and the salvation of souls.
Death and Legacy
By the year 1870, Saint Anthony Mary Claret’s body was weakened by years of work, travel, persecution, and sacrifice. Exiled from Spain and separated from most of his congregation, he found refuge among the Cistercian monks at Fontfroide Abbey, near Narbonne, France. There, surrounded by quiet prayer and the care of the monks, he spent his final months preparing to meet God. Though his health was failing, he continued to pray, write, and offer Mass whenever possible. He often said that the greatest joy of his life was to suffer for Christ and for souls.
On the morning of October 24, 1870, Anthony Mary Claret peacefully passed away, whispering prayers and offering his spirit into the hands of the Lord. He was sixty-two years old. The monks who attended him later testified to his deep serenity and the sense of holiness that filled the room at his death. His body was buried there at Fontfroide, where pilgrims soon began to visit his tomb in gratitude and devotion.
In the years after his death, reports of his intercession began to spread — especially among the missionaries and laity influenced by his preaching and writings. The Claretians, the congregation he founded, continued to grow rapidly, expanding from Spain to Latin America, Africa, and Asia. His example of missionary zeal inspired priests and laypeople to preach with courage and simplicity, focusing on spiritual renewal and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which remained the center of his spirituality.
When his body was later exhumed, it was found incorrupt, a sign of divine favor that strengthened devotion to him. His remains were eventually transferred to the Claretian Basilica in Vic, Spain, where they rest today. The place has become a shrine of pilgrimage, where faithful people from around the world come to pray for missionary strength and purity of heart.
Saint Anthony’s writings also lived on long after him. His autobiography and spiritual works, once simple pamphlets for the faithful, are now studied for their deep insight into missionary spirituality and Christian life. Popes and religious communities have praised his balanced life — a man of deep prayer, yet also of tireless action.
Even today, the Claretians serve in dozens of countries, continuing the mission he began: to spread the Word of God wherever it is most needed. His legacy is not only in the institutions he built, but in the fire of faith he left burning in the hearts of those who love Christ and the Blessed Virgin.
Canonization and Veneration
After his holy death in 1870, devotion to Saint Anthony Mary Claret spread quickly among the faithful, especially through the growing work of the Claretian Missionaries. Many people who prayed through his intercession reported favors and healings, and his writings continued to touch souls across the world. The Claretians carefully gathered testimonies of his holiness and miracles, beginning the process that would lead to his recognition by the Church.
He was beatified on February 25, 1934, by Pope Pius XI, who praised him as “a model of apostolic zeal and missionary virtue.” Sixteen years later, after further investigation and confirmed miracles, he was canonized on May 7, 1950, by Pope Pius XII, who declared him a saint of the universal Church. During the canonization, Pope Pius XII spoke of him as a “burning torch of divine love,” whose heart was set on fire by the love of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Saint Anthony Mary Claret’s feast day is celebrated on October 24. Before the reform of the liturgical calendar, it was kept on October 23 in some regions, but the universal Church now honors him on the 24th — the anniversary of his holy death. His life and mission continue to inspire countless people, particularly those engaged in teaching, preaching, and missionary work.
His principal shrine is located at the Claretian Basilica in Vic, Catalonia, Spain, where his incorrupt body rests in a glass coffin beneath the main altar. The site attracts pilgrims from around the world, who come to seek his intercession for missionary zeal, purity of heart, and courage to defend the faith. Statues and parishes dedicated to him can be found throughout Spain, Latin America, the Philippines, India, and parts of Africa, where the Claretians serve the poor and spread the Gospel.
Devotion to Saint Anthony Mary Claret is especially strong among educators, missionaries, and those who work in Catholic media, as he himself was one of the first priests to use printing and publishing as tools for evangelization. His prayer cards often include his motto:
The love of Christ urges us on.
Today, his spiritual family includes not only the Claretian Missionaries but also the Claretian Sisters, Lay Claretians, and many others who follow his missionary spirit. Through their work, his name continues to be honored in schools, missions, and parishes around the world — a living witness that one person’s burning love for God can light thousands of hearts.
Short Prayer for Intercession
Prayer to Saint Anthony Mary Claret
O holy Saint Anthony Mary Claret, you served God with burning zeal and tireless love for souls.
you used your gift of writing to share the Good News of Christ’s love and mercy.
Through your preaching and works of charity, you brought many back to the light of Christ.
Teach us to live with the same courage, patience, and compassion you showed, especially in times of rejection and hardship.
Pray for us, that we may remain faithful to God’s will and use our gifts to spread His love in the world.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
