Bicentenary of the birth of venerable Fr. Jaime Clotet
Dear Brothers,
Warm greetings from Medellín, Colombia, where yesterday we began the second round of the interprovincial Spiritual Exercises of Colombia-Venezuela and Colombia Oriental-Ecuador.
As you will remember, on 24 July 2022 we will celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Venerable Fr Jaime Clotet, co-founder of our Congregation. Five years ago, we celebrated the “Xifré Year”, commemorating the bicentenary of the birth of another of our co-founders, Fr José Xifré. In the context of the current call of the Church to live from the key of synodality, we became aware once again that God not only made use of our Fr. Founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret, to transmit to us the gift of our charism but also counted on the Claretians of the first moments of our history, the five co-founders. In each of them, we discover a rich and particular way of living this gift. Clotet, his simple and profound interior life, in the presence of God, his great filial love for Fr. Claret and his fraternal love and interest in each one of the brothers in the community where he lived, his openness, sincerity, and respect for his superiors, his concern for the poor, in particular, in his case, the fruitful apostolate supporting the deaf. (more…)
Greetings from July 16, 2022
On the celebration of the 173rd anniversary of the Foundation of our Congregation, I invite you all to join in the great thanksgiving that on July 16 we will raise to God for our existence, our history and our mission.
God’s dream for Claret continues to have a strong pulling force amid the turmoil of our times. The elders do not feel disappointed because we see the promises of the Lord fulfilled… and the young people also feel excited and delighted by the “lot of the inheritance” received. (more…)
At the end of another journey
Madrid, Spain. On July 2, 2022, Forge-25 came to an end. The participants arrived at this milestone with a good feeling. They have completed two and a half months fully dedicated to getting to know the charism of the Congregation a little better, praying for a longer period of time, going on pilgrimage to holy places, reflecting together on fundamental aspects of the Claretian vocation, sharing experiences and celebrating in faith and fraternity all that they have seen and heard.
Jaime Clotet, catequista de sordomudos
Manuel R. SEGURA GIRALDEZ, Jaime Clotet, catequista de sordomudos, (Jaime Clotet, catechist for the deaf-mute), Graduation Exercise at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome 1986, pp. 104.
In the mid-nineteenth century a pastoral renewal movement arose in the Spanish Church. One of the aspects of this renewal was the world of the deaf-mute. On the one hand, these, using natural mimicry as the only means of communication, practiced an incomprehensible language that relegated them to perennial loneliness and abandonment. (more…)
On July 24, 2022 we celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Fr. Clotet, who was part of the founding group, as a witness and protagonist, and later had a decisive role in the life and development of the Congregation. It is good to refresh his memory to realize his importance in the establishment and development of the Congregation.
Fr. Severiano Blanco, CMF shares with us some important dimensions of Fr. Clotet’s life. Father Blanco is currently one of the best connoisseurs of the life and spirituality of Fr. Claret, co-founders and those around them.
