The bundle
Drawing by Josep Maria Casanovas (1971)
Let’s fix our eyes on the figure of Claret with his bundle. It is an image prone to idealizations that do little to help us realistically experience missionary itinerancy. Some have already undertaken a demystifying task. But it is also an image that hides truths and impulses that we cannot underestimate. It has the force of a symbol. We highlight it in several texts:
“My entire luggage consisted of a shirt, a pair of socks, a handkerchief, a folding razor, a comb, my breviary, and a very small edition of the Bible. Since deck passengers were given nothing to eat, they had to carry their own provisions for the trip. Knowing this before I left Marseilles, I had bought my provisions, which consisted of a pound-loaf of bread and a piece of cheese. These were all my provisions for the five days from Marseilles to Civitavecchia-stops, storms, and all” (Aut 132).
This second is more reflective: “I believed that this dreadful giant (=gold, greed), which worldlings call all-powerful, had to be confronted with the holy virtue of poverty. So, wherever I encountered greed, I countered it with poverty. I had nothing, wanted nothing, and refused everything. I was content with the clothes I had on and the food that was set before me. I carried all I had in a bandanna. The contents of my luggage were a full- year breviary, a sheaf of sermons, a pair of socks, and an extra shirt –nothing more” (Aut. 359). (more…)
The Constitutions of the Congregation approved by Rome in 1865
One important aspect of the history of the Congregation is its constitutional evolution. These changes show us the progress in the life of the Congregation, refresh our charismatic identity and open us to possibilities of renewal. Along with this article we are publishing the digitized version of the first Constitutions of the Congregation approved by Rome in 1865. But before going directly into the details of the constitutional manuscript of 1865, we are offering a brief evolution of said text.
The first text of the Constitutions dated back to 1849, when Claret created “regulations or constitutions” for his newly founded Missionaries, (more…)
The Apostolic Christ Experience of Saint Anthony Mary Claret and the relevance for the Consecrated Life in the Syro Malabar Church
MANNARATH Noble, The Apostolic Christ Experience of Saint Anthony Mary Claret and the relevance for the Consecrated Life in the Syro Malabar Church, Thesis Doctoral, ITVR, Madrid 2010, pp. X-495.
This is a doctoral thesis defended at the Faculty of Theology (more…)
On September 8, 2022, the Scientific Conference will be held to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Jaume Clotet (promoter of Catalan sign language) in Vic at the Sala Segimon Serrallonga, UVic-UCC.
On this day, the Director of the CESC, Juan Carlos Martos, will make the following presentation at 9:30 am: “Approach to the figure of Fr. Jaume Clotet, Claretian and pedagogue of deaf children in Vic”.
Above you can see the promotional video of the “Clotet Day” at the University of Vic, made by local television 9TV with the collaboration of the Association of Deaf People of Vic.
