Between 27th May and 3rd June, we, the 15 participants of the English “Forge0519” with one of the facilitators, Roland Onuekwusi “toured” Catalonia and Aragon, walking the footprints of Father Claret and our brothers Martyrs. They belong to 11 major organisms (Bangalore, Chennai, East Asia, Indonesia-Timor-Leste, East Nigeria, Northeast India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, St. Charles Lwanga, St. Thomas and US-Canada), from 7 countries (Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Poland,  and Sri Lanka). Our first stop on the pilgrimage was Zaragoza. We were welcomed by our Claretian community and brought to the church of our Blessed Mother – the Basilica of our Lady of Pilar. One among us is a parish priest of our Lady of Pilar parish in the Philippines. A visit to the place of the apparition of Mary in Zaragoza was a very emotional experience for him.

On 27th May in the evening we arrived in Barbastro. The following day we walked the way of the Martyrs – from the former seminary to the place they were imprisoned, and then by a small bus to the place of their execution. It is difficult to describe our emotions. Some of us could not sleep that night and some of us could not even look at the urns with the remains of our brothers. We had and we still have many questions.

 

The centre of our pilgrimage was obviously Vic and its surroundings. We visited all the main places connected with the life of Claret. In his birth place, Sallent, we were shown the map of Claret’s missionary activity and we were immediately stunned. Here was a man with passion for preaching the Word of God. And upon seeing the list of the books and pamphlets written by our Founder, some among us promised to devote themselves more eagerly to ministry of God’s word through mass media.

Coming back from Sallent we paid a short visit to the famous Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat, which was visited four times by Claret, and in which he also preached to the people. In the neighbourhood of Vic, we were charmed by the beauty of Espinelves, a small village where our Founder preached one of his first missions. And then we visited Viladrau, the centre of the first months of his missionary activity. But, of course, the real core of our pilgrimage was the possibility to visit the tomb of our Father, to pray in silence for us and for our mission places around his remains, to celebrate several times the Mass close to him: that was a unique experience! Later on, to visit the museum, the archives of the CESC, the old city of Vic with so many Claretian remembrances… Now we can understand much better many passages of the Autobiography and the spirit of Claret.

In Barcelona, we went to St. Just and Pastor, the Church where Father Claret had his “Quid Prodest” experience, the oratory of St. Philip Neri, the basilica of “Santa Maria del Mar”, the “Lonja”, and the Barceloneta – the beach where Claret was saved from drowning by the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We noted also that the biggest tourist attraction in the capital of Catalonia nowadays is the “Sagrada Familia”. And Antoni Gaudí, the architect behind that famous basilica, was in love with Father Claret, therefore the statue of our Founder is the first one among the Saints placed on one of the facades of this enormous church.

 

The last place we visited was the Abbey of Fontfroide in France. Saint Anthony Mary Claret always wanted to die as a martyr. His death in the exile, hunted by the Spanish government and buried in a corner of that Abbey, because the French government did not allow the monks to bury him in the church, was as closed to martyrdom as it could be.

It was truly a memorable pilgrimage. We would like to thank all the Claretian communities that welcomed us so warmly. In a special way, we would like to express our gratitude to our two guides, Fr. Rey Alcantara, CMF (in Barbastro) and Fr. Joseph Rovira, CMF (in Vic and other places). Their rich knowledge made this pilgrimage an unforgettable experience. God bless you all.