Claretians
Encyclopedia
The Claretians, a community of Roman Catholic priests and brothers, were founded by Saint Anthony Claret in 1849. They strive to follow their founder's “on fire” example and help wherever they are needed. Their ministries are highly diverse and vary depending on the needs of the area. They focus on seeing life through the eyes of the poor and respond to the biggest need at the time. They have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their formal title is the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but they are popularly known as "the Claretians".
(Anthony Claret) said Today a great work is beginning to five young priests in a cell in the Vic seminary
on July 16, 1849. This was the founding of the Congregation of "Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary" in Vic
, in the province of Barcelona
, Catalonia
, Spain
.
Anthony Claret had been thinking for a long time about preparing priests to proclaim the Gospel
and bring together a group of priests who shared his vision to accomplish work he could not do alone. Through his evangelizing missionary work in Catalonia
and the Canary Islands
he was convinced that people needed to be evangelized and there were not enough priests who were sufficiently prepared or zealous enough for this mission. He was a humble man who knew that his vision came from God
and not through his own means. “How great can it be since we are so young and so few?” asked Fr. Manuel Vilaró, one of the priests gathered at the seminary in Vic.
Only 20 days after its founding, Anthony Claret received news of his appointment as Archbishop of Cuba
in North America
, which he accepted despite his reluctance. The Congregation was left in God’s hands and under the guidance of one of the co-founders, Esteban Sala, who died in 1858. Another co-founder, José Xifré, took over the directorship.
Archbishop Claret, called back from Cuba to Madrid, Spain to be Confessor to Queen Isabella II, contrived to remain very close to the new Superior General and to all the missionaries. He attended the General Chapters. He gave spiritual and financial guidance to his order. He also wrote his autobiography for the good of the Congregation and at the order of the Superior General, who had previously been his spiritual director. He played a major role editing the Constitutions, which the Holy See
approved on February 11, 1870, only a few months before his death.
With the coming of the Revolution of 1868, the Congregation was suppressed by the state and all the Missionaries had to seek refuge in France
. Archbishop Claret also had to go into exile there, where he died in 1870. At this time the order had its first holy martyr, Francisco Crusats. Archbishop Claret. the founder, had the great satisfaction of seeing new foundations established throughout Spain
, as well as in Africa
(Argel), and in Latin America
in México, Chile
and also , in the Philippines
.
by way of Mexico in the early 1900s, working in Los Angeles
inner city missions. The Claretins have operated the historic La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles
in Pueblo de Los Angeles
near Downtown Los Angeles
since 1908.
, located in the Santa Monica Mountains
of rural western Los Angeles County
. The Thomas Aquinas College was also here from 1971 until moving to a permanent campus in Santa Paula, California
in 1975. The land and structures are now part of Malibu Creek State Park
.
The Claretian Order returned to their original Southern California
location, the Dominguez Seminary near the Dominguez Rancho Adobe
of Rancho San Pedro
, in Rancho Dominguez, California
near Long Beach
.
As missionary servants of the Word, the spiritual life of our Congregation at the beginning of the new millennium is profoundly marked by the historical moment in which we are living. A spirituality that is missionary and prophetic is called upon to respond to the great challenges of our time and to insert itself into the spiritual movements, which the Spirit is bestowing on humanity today.
The Claretian’s work is as diverse as its priests. They work in parishes, foreign missions, periodical publishing, outreaches to young people, summer camps and inner city college outreaches. They attend to the needs of immigrants, youth and families. They also lead trips for the future leaders of tomorrow with leadership training and spiritual renewal.
Church in Chicago
, Illinois
, United States
. Many of Tort’s parishioners were laborers in the nearby steel mills, which were drastically cutting back their work forces early in 1929. This cutback was the precursor of the Stock Market crash.
Tort was saddened to see that about 90% of his parishioners were without jobs and in difficult financial situations. To make the situation worse, unemployment compensation and Social Security benefits did not yet exist. The Claretian pastor saw breadlines being formed in the community. He saw evidence of children being undernourished and his heart went out to his neighbors, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. Tort prayed for, and with, his people. He had started construction of a church, but with money extremely scarce he felt the building project would have to be abandoned.
Tort was devoted to Saint Jude Thaddeus, who was relatively obscure to the general Catholic population at that time. During the Middle Ages St. Jude was venerated by many people, but due in part of to his name being mistake for the traitor Judas Iscariot
, devotions to him were minimal. Night after night, however, Tort persevered in his prayers to Saint Jude, asking his intercession and promising to erect a shrine in the saint's honor if the church could be finished. In an effort to lift the spirits of his parishioners, Tort began regular devotions to Saint Jude. The first novena
honoring the saint was held on February 17, 1929.
During Lent
in 1929, Tort noticed many of his parishioners praying before the statue of Saint Jude. When the statues in the church were covered with purple drape during Passion Week
, the devotions were so great that he moved the statue to a prestigious stop above an altar on the right side of the church. The congregation at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church showed such great response to the devotion to Saint Jude that an overflow crowd attended services on the final night of a solemn novena that ended on the saint's feast day, October 28, 1929, one day before the stock market crashed. More than 1,000 people stood outside the church to hear the service.
Money came to the church from many places around the US. They never had a surplus of money, but they had enough to get by and the modest shrine to Saint Jude was finally established.
Word of the devotions to Saint Jude gradually spread from that tiny corner of Chicago to other parts of the country. During the Depression of the 1930s and during World War II, thousands of men, women, and children attended novenas at the shrine and devotion to the patron saint of desperate causes spread throughout the country.
Because the majority of Saint Jude patrons cannot personally attend novena services (which begin on a Saturday afternoon and end nine days later on a Sunday night), the office of the National Shrine in Chicago distributes novena literature throughout the country to devotees who want to pray the novena by reading the prayers at home or elsewhere.
To this day, the letters that pour into the National Shrine provide inspiring testimony to the desire of the faithful to unite themselves with God through prayers to Saint Jude.
History of the Order
Antonio María Claret y ClaráAntonio María Claret y Clará
Anthony Mary Claret was a Catalan Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop and missionary, and was confessor of Isabella II of Spain.-Biography:...
(Anthony Claret) said Today a great work is beginning to five young priests in a cell in the Vic seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
on July 16, 1849. This was the founding of the Congregation of "Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary" in Vic
Vic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
, in the province of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Anthony Claret had been thinking for a long time about preparing priests to proclaim the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
and bring together a group of priests who shared his vision to accomplish work he could not do alone. Through his evangelizing missionary work in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
he was convinced that people needed to be evangelized and there were not enough priests who were sufficiently prepared or zealous enough for this mission. He was a humble man who knew that his vision came from God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and not through his own means. “How great can it be since we are so young and so few?” asked Fr. Manuel Vilaró, one of the priests gathered at the seminary in Vic.
Only 20 days after its founding, Anthony Claret received news of his appointment as Archbishop of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, which he accepted despite his reluctance. The Congregation was left in God’s hands and under the guidance of one of the co-founders, Esteban Sala, who died in 1858. Another co-founder, José Xifré, took over the directorship.
Archbishop Claret, called back from Cuba to Madrid, Spain to be Confessor to Queen Isabella II, contrived to remain very close to the new Superior General and to all the missionaries. He attended the General Chapters. He gave spiritual and financial guidance to his order. He also wrote his autobiography for the good of the Congregation and at the order of the Superior General, who had previously been his spiritual director. He played a major role editing the Constitutions, which the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
approved on February 11, 1870, only a few months before his death.
With the coming of the Revolution of 1868, the Congregation was suppressed by the state and all the Missionaries had to seek refuge in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Archbishop Claret also had to go into exile there, where he died in 1870. At this time the order had its first holy martyr, Francisco Crusats. Archbishop Claret. the founder, had the great satisfaction of seeing new foundations established throughout Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, as well as in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(Argel), and in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
in México, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and also , in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Los Angeles pueblo
The Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome (aka: The Claretian Order or The Claretians), had come to Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
by way of Mexico in the early 1900s, working in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
inner city missions. The Claretins have operated the historic La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles is a Catholic church founded on August 18, 1814 by Fray Luis Gil y Taboada, who placed the cornerstone of a new church amid the ruins of the former "sub-mission," the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles Asistencia to serve the local...
in Pueblo de Los Angeles
Pueblo de Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....
near Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
since 1908.
Claretville
From 1952 to 1977 The Claretians also served from the Theological Seminary of Claretville and Immaculate Heart Claretian Novitiate, on the former King Gillette Ranch in CalabasasCalabasas, California
Calabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California in the western United States. It is located in the hills in the southwestern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains between Woodland Hills, Agoura Hills, West Hills, and Malibu, California. As of the 2010 census, the city...
, located in the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
of rural western Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
. The Thomas Aquinas College was also here from 1971 until moving to a permanent campus in Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...
in 1975. The land and structures are now part of Malibu Creek State Park
Malibu Creek State Park
Malibu Creek State Park is a California state park in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu, in Calabasas. It opened to the public in 1976.-Location:Malibu Creek State Park stretches from below Malibu Lake in the west to Piuma Road in the east...
.
The Claretian Order returned to their original Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
location, the Dominguez Seminary near the Dominguez Rancho Adobe
Dominguez Rancho Adobe
The Dominguez Rancho Adobe is California Historical Landmark Number 152, and in 1976 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior....
of Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants, and the first to win a patent from the United States. The land grant was validated by the Mexican government at in 1828, and a US patent validating was issued in 1858...
, in Rancho Dominguez, California
Rancho Dominguez, California
Rancho Dominguez is a former settlement, now an unincorporated community, in Los Angeles County, California. It was located near East Rancho Dominguez. Rancho Dominguez is located between Long Beach, California and Carson, California....
near Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
.
Work
Saint Anthony Claret described the ideal Claretian in these words, "A son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flames wherever he goes. He desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set everyone on fire with God's love. Nothing daunts him: he delights in privations, welcomes work, embraces sacrifices, smiles at slander, rejoices in all the torments and sorrows he suffers, and glories in the cross of Jesus Christ. His only concern is how he may follow Christ and imitate him in praying, working, enduring and striving constantly and solely for the greater glory of God and the salvation of humankind."As missionary servants of the Word, the spiritual life of our Congregation at the beginning of the new millennium is profoundly marked by the historical moment in which we are living. A spirituality that is missionary and prophetic is called upon to respond to the great challenges of our time and to insert itself into the spiritual movements, which the Spirit is bestowing on humanity today.
The Claretian’s work is as diverse as its priests. They work in parishes, foreign missions, periodical publishing, outreaches to young people, summer camps and inner city college outreaches. They attend to the needs of immigrants, youth and families. They also lead trips for the future leaders of tomorrow with leadership training and spiritual renewal.
St. Jude Shrine, Chicago
The national shirne of St. Jude was founded by Father James Tort, C.M.F., pastor of Our Lady of GuadalupeOur Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe , also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.According to tradition, on December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady...
Church in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Many of Tort’s parishioners were laborers in the nearby steel mills, which were drastically cutting back their work forces early in 1929. This cutback was the precursor of the Stock Market crash.
Tort was saddened to see that about 90% of his parishioners were without jobs and in difficult financial situations. To make the situation worse, unemployment compensation and Social Security benefits did not yet exist. The Claretian pastor saw breadlines being formed in the community. He saw evidence of children being undernourished and his heart went out to his neighbors, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. Tort prayed for, and with, his people. He had started construction of a church, but with money extremely scarce he felt the building project would have to be abandoned.
Tort was devoted to Saint Jude Thaddeus, who was relatively obscure to the general Catholic population at that time. During the Middle Ages St. Jude was venerated by many people, but due in part of to his name being mistake for the traitor Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
, devotions to him were minimal. Night after night, however, Tort persevered in his prayers to Saint Jude, asking his intercession and promising to erect a shrine in the saint's honor if the church could be finished. In an effort to lift the spirits of his parishioners, Tort began regular devotions to Saint Jude. The first novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
honoring the saint was held on February 17, 1929.
During Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
in 1929, Tort noticed many of his parishioners praying before the statue of Saint Jude. When the statues in the church were covered with purple drape during Passion Week
Passion Week
Passion Week is a name for the week beginning on Passion Sunday, as the Fifth Sunday of Lent was once called in the Roman Rite.However, even before Pope John XXIII's Code of Rubrics changed the name of this Sunday from "Passion Sunday" to "First Sunday of the Passion" , the liturgical books gave...
, the devotions were so great that he moved the statue to a prestigious stop above an altar on the right side of the church. The congregation at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church showed such great response to the devotion to Saint Jude that an overflow crowd attended services on the final night of a solemn novena that ended on the saint's feast day, October 28, 1929, one day before the stock market crashed. More than 1,000 people stood outside the church to hear the service.
Money came to the church from many places around the US. They never had a surplus of money, but they had enough to get by and the modest shrine to Saint Jude was finally established.
Word of the devotions to Saint Jude gradually spread from that tiny corner of Chicago to other parts of the country. During the Depression of the 1930s and during World War II, thousands of men, women, and children attended novenas at the shrine and devotion to the patron saint of desperate causes spread throughout the country.
Because the majority of Saint Jude patrons cannot personally attend novena services (which begin on a Saturday afternoon and end nine days later on a Sunday night), the office of the National Shrine in Chicago distributes novena literature throughout the country to devotees who want to pray the novena by reading the prayers at home or elsewhere.
To this day, the letters that pour into the National Shrine provide inspiring testimony to the desire of the faithful to unite themselves with God through prayers to Saint Jude.