My experience with Father Claret

When I write my experience with Father Claret, many persons come across my mind. Because it is through them I know our beloved Founder. Therefore my testimony is mingled with the emotions of gratitude. My experience with St. Antony Mary Claret began in 1978 at the age of 16, when I joined the postulancy in Karumathur, India. I had my schooling in the Jesuit school where I learnt more about the Jesuit saints. Father Claret was new to my knowledge until I entered in our formation house. As the Congregation was new to our land at that time, there were not many materials about our Founder to know him more. There was a small book about him in Tamil which was read in common during the time of spiritual reading. My knowledge about him was very less till the end of my initial formation in 1985 when we had one more material translated into English called the Autobiography. These two books helped my first contact and my first love for him.

The first experience of celebrating the feast of our Founder is something unforgettable. 24^th October, 1978 was celebrated with grandeur of a novena, talks about him, prayers addressed to him, etc in our postulancy. This was also an important day of taking possession of the first Claretian Parish in India. The formation from our formators and participation of the senior students of our house in this celebration helped me to grow in my devotion to Father Claret. It is from this year on I started to pray to St. Anthony Mary Claret. His Eucharistic devotion, filial devotion to Mother Mary and his missionary commitment for the Word of God drew my attention. Throughout our initial formation Fr. Anselmus, one of our formators instilled in us St. Claret´s Missionary Identity and inspired us to grow in it more and more.

My closer contact with our Father Founder began to develop when I was sent to Spain for my licentiate in the Consecrated Life (1993-1996). My stay with the elderly Claretians in the community of Madrid belonging to the Province of Bética was a blessing for me. Their knowledge and committed missionary experience certainly helped me very much to know Father Claret better. A blessing in this initial stage in Madrid fell on me through the accompaniment of Fr. José-Félix Valderrábano to the places of Father Claret. My first encounter with Claret by being present to the places like Sallent, Vic and Barcelona are still enriching. The explanations given by our missionaries there in that year helped me to grow in my knowledge about Father Claret and appreciate him. The grace I had in this field came through the invitation of Fr. Aquilino Bocos, the then Superior General who had asked the claretian students in the Theological Institute of Religious Life to do our dissertations on the themes of our Father Founder. Therefore Fr. José Cristo Rey García Paredes guided me to do my paper on the Eucharistic experience of our Founder. This work of studying the fact of his mystical life deepened my desire and knowledge in this aspect. So I place my gratitude on record to the province of Bética, Frs. José-Félix Valderrábano, Aquilino Bocos and Cristo Rey for their role in my claretian formation.

The great gift I received in this field of Claretian Spirituality was my appointment by Fr. Josep Abella, the then Superior General, to the Claretian Spirituality Center (CESC), Vic in 2004. Thanks a lot dear Fr. Abella. It was an unexpected blessing in disguise in many ways. Living in the Mother House (CASA MARE) of our congregation is always matter of joy for the heart. Being accompanied always with the spirit of Father Claret present in the whole campus of the CASA MADRE through his mortal remains, museum, writings, etc was for me an inspiration and reminder to be closer to Father Claret. The first team of CESC, consisted of Frs. Antonio Bellella as its Director, Jesús María Palacios and Anthony Ejikeme under the leadership of Fr. Gonzalo Fernández, the General Prefect of Spirituality opened me the doors to know, to love Father Claret and make him known and loved. The sharing of their knowledge and methods to study Father Claret was very useful instruments for me. The great event of the Bicentennial Birth Anniversary of St. Anthony Mary Claret and the encouragement of our team led me to study Father Claret and share it with our brothers in the Congregation through retreats, conferences and classes. The fraternal atmosphere of our community in Vic encouraged me to grow more in this field. Frs. Anton Vilarúbias and Josep Armengol, as my superiors in those years took care of me very tenderly to grow in my commitment to study Father Claret. I am grateful to them.

I am in debt to Frs. Joan Sidera, a 99 year old eldest brother of our Congregation. His deep and critical knowledge about our Father Claret has made me to remain wonderstruck. Living with him almost 10 years was like sitting in the Library of Father Claret. What a depth of knowledge! He was so kind and benevolent to share with me all his knowledge and experiences. He was always ready to provide me the claretian materials and clarifications about Father Founder. Another important personality in this field was Fr. Jesus Bermejo. He was a man fallen in love with Father Claret. His minute knowledge about Father impressed me a lot. Living with him in those last three of his life was a blessing for me. He introduced me to this filed of studying, investigating and making known the personality of our Beloved Father. There is no doubt that they are authorities on the life and mission of Father Claret.

Another team of persons who helped me very much in this field: Frs. Carlos Sánchez, the present Director of CESC, Josep Rovira, the Editor of Studia Claretiana and Severiano Blanco, the collaborator with the Center. The ambience in our encounters was always filled with the flavor of the spirit of Father Founder. They used to share with me their knowledge gathered from their studies. Listening to their claretian knowledge was a joyful experience.

I too thank Frs. Mathew Vattamattam, the Present Superior General and Gonzalo Fernández who opened to me wider the field of studying and investigating the life of Father Claret. While the former initiated me to teach the Autobiography and the writings of our Founder to our formators, the latter entrusted me with the responsibility of organizing the Forge Experiences and Encounters with Claret to the members of our Congregation. It is through these ways, I could be in touch with the spirit of our Founder and found out the possibilities to actualize it to our time as one of the responses to the modern challenges. These two calls were important means for me to form myself in the claretian spirit and share it with my brothers of the congregation. My classes, seminars and retreats on the charism of St. Anthony Mary Claret to our brothers helped me to accompany them in their spiritual journey by his appreciating and valuing evangelizing spirit. My experience in the Claretian Spirituality Center (CESC) led me to discover the “Spirituality of the Heart” of Father Claret: a heart that listened to the Word of God, a heart that formed him and a heart bearing the presence of Jesus all through the day.  In my encounter with Father Claret in Vic, I had the grace of accompanying our brothers from different parts of the world through the streets, parishes and monasteries he lived and preached the Word. In this journey I could experience all of us walking together with our holy father. Sitting silently in the birth place of Father Claret, remaining in prayer before the mortal remains of our Father Founder, contemplating the foundation cell of his “Great Work” in the museum, constantly reading and reflecting his writings and sharing this experience with our brothers always leads me to a nostalgic longing. Long Live Father Claret and His Spirit.

Jesu Doss Sathanandam, C.M.F.