Christian Perspectives

St. Anthony Mary Claret:

Undaunted Itinerant Preacher

J. M. Joseph Jeyaseelan CMF

An article by Fr. P. Arockiadoss, SJ, titled Anointed by the Holy Spirit of the Lord: Searching for a Spirituality of Ministerial Priesthood begins as follows: ‘The number of the lay faithful who flock to hear lay preachers, both Protestant and Catholic, is increasing day by day.

The tribe of such crowd-pulling preachers is also steadily growing. But there seems to be a general air of

 dissatisfaction with the sacramental services as well as the homilies of priests.

Generally priests seem to be doing these services in a routine mechanical way. People find the priests incapable of leading them to a deep spiritual experience’ (Asian Journal for Priests, Sep. 2005).

Of course, we can make numerous arguments for or against the above observation. Whatever those complaints may be, as regards St. Anthony Mary Claret, a preacher par excellence of the 19th century, the case was just the reverse.

Let me five you a thumbnail sketch of the missionary activities of this itinerant preacher. Claret preached in the Canary Islands, in Catalonia and other parts of Spain, and later as Archbishop in Santiago, Cuba.

He delivered nearly 25,000 sermons and talks. Sometimes he preached two to three weeks at a stretch, but people never grew tired. They wanted him to “go ahead.” Once, after such an occasion, 25 priests were needed to hear confessions.

Wherever and whenever Claret preached, the place overflowed with people eager to listen to him. People came to him from far and wide. Some travelled 200-300 miles to listen to his sermons.

They felt that they should listen to him preach at least once in their lifetime. Bishops of other dioceses requested Claret’s own bishop to allow him to preach in their dioceses. His congregation/audience included grave sinners, atheists, kings, lords, theologians and so on. Often, after listening to Claret, people made their confession and reformed their ways.

What was so remarkable about the preaching of St. Claret? Here I would like to draw your attention to four aspects that were characteristic of Claret’s life and mission.

He had one goal and that was his only goal

Claret writes in his autobiography, “Whenever I went to a town, I did so without any worldly goal in mind; my only aim was to glorify God and save souls.”

He writes further, “You know that men nearly always do whatever it is they do for one or another of the following reasons: (1) for gain or money, (2) for pleasure, (3) for fame.

I have not come to preach a mission in this town for any of these three reasons.” Therefore it becomes clear that Claret was not worried about worldy things or gains. He had a twofold superior goal in his mind: to glorify God and to save souls.

In the article referred to earlier, Fr. Arockiadoss speaks about the Levitical priests as follows: “Using their religious powers, they went after acquiring worldly powers.

Seeking possessions, positions, power and pleasures for themselves, they were totally alienated from the Lord. They forgot their noble ideals, and the care of the people whom they were sent to serve. They became one with corrupt officials and bureaucrats.

Are not these trends sometimes true even in this day and age? We, who have voluntarily chosen to be radical followers of the Lord, saying “no” to the ways of the world, often find ourselves caught in the currents of the world, seeking gain, pleasure and fame.

This may explain why people are weary of the sermons of modern day preachers. Claret was an extraordinary missionary in this matter. As he mentions in the autobiography, he never looked for worldly gain, pleasure or fame. His goal, which was his only goal, was to glorify God and to save souls.

He was moved by an inner urge to help sinners

We read in Claret’s autobiography, “If you saw a blind man about to fall into a pit or over a cliff, wouldn’t you warn him? That’s just what I’m doing and must do in conscience: warn sinners and make them see the precipice of hell that they are about to fall into. Woe is me if I don’t, for they could hold me responsible for their damnation.”

He says further, “I tell you quite frankly that whenever I see sinners, I grow restless, I cannot quiet down, I cannot be consoled, my heart goes out to them.”

St. Claret continues, “Charity urges and impels me; it makes me run from town to town shouting, ‘sinner, my son, look where you’re heading; you’re about to fall into hell. Stop! Don’t take another step’.”

As was the case with St. Paul, the motivating force in Claret was charity towards his brothers and sisters. He never lost that spirit. For him next to God was his neighbour, and he did all things possible to bring sinners back to the way of the Gospel. We are called to serve the people.

The modern world lacks no amount of bad theories and attractions, to which even we ministers of the Word are vulnerable. If we let ourselves be overly influenced by these, and forget the people who are in our care, then we can be sure that our work as ministers of the Word is not going to produce much fruit.

How true is what the late American Archbishop, Fulton J. Sheen, wrote nearly half a century ago: “In the proportion in which we seek what the world can give, we become unable to give what the world needs.”

He persevered despite hindrances and calumnies

For Claret life was not a cakewalk. Rather it was a bed of thorns. Twelve times, attempts were made to assassinate him. Although all the attempts proved futile, on some occasions Claret was seriously injured.

One such incident took place in Holguin, on February 10, 1856 during one of his pastoral visitations as Archbishop. A man under the guise of being a devotee slashed the face of Claret across the left cheek, from the ear to the chin using a razor. He narrowly escaped death with God’s providence.

In addition to these physical attacks, there were several things that caused him psychological torment. Dozens of poison-pen letters arrived day after day. Pamphlets were circulated with spiteful contents aimed at ruining his reputation.

The latter became a severe problem in the saint’s old age. Furthermore, on numerous occasions bans were imposed on his preaching ministry. On one occasion such a ban remained for two long years. Imagine what it would have meant for this preacher who was burning with a passionate zeal to spread the Word to the four corners of the earth.

Nevertheless nothing could prevent him from his mission, for as he said in the definition he gave for a Claretian, “nothing daunts him.” In fact Philippians 4:13 was his guiding principle: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.”

The barriers a missionary of the Word encounters in today’s world are countless. Sometimes they come from governments; sometimes they are from extremists of other religions; and at times they stem from nowhere else but from the very place itself to which one belongs.

When circumstances in our own lives are such, we can learn from the life of St. Claret how to respond to all of this with serenity and trust in God’s goodness.

As St. Vincent de Paul says, “When the will of God is clearly seen in any affairs, no matter how difficult, it should be undertaken with intrepidity and pursued with constancy even to the end, however many and great may be the obstacles which oppose it. For, the providence of God never fails those things that are undertaken by His order.”

His fourfold way of finding strength

St. Claret had an irresistible love for the Eucharist, and it was the primary source from which he drew strength to resist all temptations and persecutions in order to serve the Lord and his people untiringly.

In fact, Claret had received a special grace from the Lord of keeping the sacramental species intact within him and of having the Blessed Sacrament always present in his breast.

This “great grace”, as he calls in the autobiography, was granted to him on the evening of 26 August 1861 when he was at prayer.

In addition to this prime source, Claret had other means by which to draw the necessary strength. He writes in the autobiography, “Ever since I lost the desire to become a Carthusian, which God had used to uproot me from worldliness, I not only thought about becoming holy myself, but I was continuously trying to imagine what I could do to save the souls of my neighbours.

Hence, I prayed continuously to Jesus and Mary, offering myself to them for this purpose. The lives of the saints, which we read daily at table, and my own spiritual reading all contributed to this.

But what moved me and stimulated me most was reading the Holy Bible, to which I have always been very strongly attracted.”

Here in a nutshell are the four means in addition to the Holy eucharist: (1) praying to Jesus, (2) praying to Mary, (3) spiritual reading, and (4) reading the Holy Bible. These very ingredients are what make for a missionary’s success in giving glory to God and saving souls. How often we fail to understand the importance of these ingredients in our spiritual life!

We find time to do numerous other things, but it is difficult to allot time for these activities that nourish the soul and lead us in the right path.

A few concluding thoughts

In our days we sometimes find preachers who are mere entertainers. Their anxiety, Preoccupation and goal are to keep their audience, the congregation, alive and entertained.

Therefore, their sermons are full of stories, and unbecoming jokes sometimes. This may be an indication of the preacher’s weak conviction, and poor assimilation, of the Word.

Today, the world needs bona fide ministers who can break the Word open in a meaningful and authentic manner that touches our people at the core of their being. If we are to keep the flock of God in one fold, we need to shake off our spiritual sloth and pretence. Let us set our hearts on how we can be faithful and fruitful. Claret offers a perfect example in this regard.

Let me end with a spiritual exhortation from St. Jerome as quoted by Pope Benedict XV in his encyclical Spiritus Paraclitus (1920): “Provided, our bodies are not the slaves of sin, wisdom will come to us; but exercise your mind, feed it daily with Holy Scripture... We have got, then, to read Holy Scripture assiduously; we have got to meditate on the Law of God day and night so that, as expert money-changers, we may be able to detect false coin from true... Read assiduously and learn as much as you can.

Let sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head nods let it be resting on the sacred page... Always have a book in your hands and read it; learn the Psalter by heart; pray unceasingly; watch over your senses lest idle thoughts creep in ... Constantly read the Bible; in fact, have it always in your hands.

Learn what you have got to teach. Get firm hold of that faithful word that is according to doctrine, that you may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and convince the gainsayers...” (Nos.40,42,45).

November news

Pamunugama-Bopitiya: The church dedicated to St. Nicholas will celebrate the feast on Sunday, December 9 with a festive High Mass at 8 am. There will be Holy Masses at 5.30 am, 6.30 am, 12 noon and one at 5 pm on the feast day.

Vespers will be sung on Saturday, December 8th the feast day of Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Jesus at 7.30 pm. Preparatory novenas will begin today at 7 pm and will continue during the week until the Vespers Day.

There will be special blessing of the children on Thursday, December 6 at 11 am followed by Holy Mass.

Thambarawila-Godalla Church will celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Jesus on Sunday December 9 with a festive High Mass offered at 7.30 am by Very Rev.Fr. Christy Tissera, the Treasurer of the Chilaw Diocese. This year marks the 168th feast day of the Church.

On Saturday, December 8th the feast day proper, will sing the Vespers at 7 pm presided over by Rev. Fr. Sylvester Wijesuriya, Head of the Bolawatta Deanery. Procession will precede vespers.

Diocesan Children’s Rally

The Diocesan Children’s Rally will be held on Saturday, December 1 at the Sir Albert F. Peiris Sports Grounds at Wennappuwa. His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis will grace the occasion of launching “Dam Kekula” CD to mark the Children’s rally.

The Golden Jubilee of the Third Order of the Religious (TRO) Franciscans Brothers will be held on Saturday, December 1, at the Mother House of the Community at Maggona.

The TRO will mark the joining the international fraternity of the Order on November 13, 1982. St. Francis is the Founder of the Franciscans and the Indigenous group of Brothers came to be known as the Order of St. Vincent de Paul at Maggona with a group of young men from Diyalagoda in 1847 under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Don Alosyous Pichchanelli, an Italian priest.

The celebration is to mark chalking the 50th year of that event.

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Bro. Paul Nizier: He trained the untrained

W. T. A. Leslie Fernando

Continued from last week

On June 30, 1959 after 30 years of service Bro. Paul Nizier bid farewell to Maris Stella. For three decades he guided and moulded thousands of Maristonians in their formative years to become good citizens. He made a tremendous contribution to make Maris Stella College, a leading school in the island.

From Maris Stella, Bro Paul Nizier went to Marist Brothers’ Farm and Training institute at Tudella. In 1962, he was appointed the Master of Novices at Marist Novitiate, Ragama.

In 1965, he was appointed the Provincial Superior of Marist Brothers in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In 1968, he attended the special general chapter after the Vatican Council II in Rome.

In 1972, Bro.Paul Nizier was appointed the Director of Maris Stella once again and also served as the Master of Scholastics in Negombo. From 1978 to 1989, he lived in Bandarawela.

During this time he negotiated with the Government and obtained a grant of land in compensation for an error in the vesting order of St. Joseph’s College, Bandarawela. There he built the present Holiday House for Marist Brothers.

Since 1989, Bro. Paul Nizier spent his retirement at Our Lady’s Hermitage at Tudella and carried an apostolate of the pen. A prolific writer his religious articles appeared in various journals. He also did some social work for the poor in the area and taught English for the young.

Throughout his career Bro. Paul Nizier was devoted and attached to Bro. Anthony who was the Principal and Director of Maris Stella from 1923 to 1949. In the last years of Bro. Anthony he took care of him with so much affection. Bro. Paul Nizier wanted to initiate the process of canonization of legendary Bro. Anthony as a Saint. He collected testimonials from those who have known and associated with Bro. Anthony.

When I met Bro. Paul Nizier at Our Lady’s Hermitage at Tudella for the last time, he was very feeble. By that time I had sent him a testimonial about Bro. Anthony. In that I emphasised that like Christ the Master Bro. Anthony opted for the poor, when he opened the doors of Maris Stella for free education in 1940’s. Bro. Paul Nizier commended it saying that nobody else had mentioned about that aspect of the career of Bro. Anthony.

Bro. Paul Nizier passed away after a couple of weeks on December 08, 1999 and his body lay in State at Maris Stella College Chapel. He was laid to rest on December 10, 1999 at the General Cemetery, Negombo.

Bro. Paul Nizier lived 93 years and spent 72 years in the congregation of Marist Brothers. An outstanding teacher, able administrator, good organiser, cultured gentleman and prolific writer, he used all his talents to serve mankind in the name of God. He loved God and loved the neighbour in the true Christian spirit.

Concluded

The writer is a former High Court Judge and President of Newman Society Alumni Association.