Antoni Daufí, cmf

I was born in Tortosa (Tarragona) in 1929. Fr. Claret, on his apostolic journeys across Catalonia, never reached Tortosa, nor have ever been any Claretian Missionaries in my land. Therefore, as a child, I never heard of Claret, nor knew any Claretian. It was due to circumstances of the Spanish civil war from 1936 to 1939 that my family had to move to Vic where, at the end of the war, I first came to know Saint Anthony Maria Claret through the contact with the Claretian Missionaries of this town. At that time I was 11 years old and it was during those postwar years that I began to go quite often to the (improvised) church of La Mercè, where the tomb of Saint Anthony Maria Claret was venerated, at the time being a Beat. That was my first Claretian contact. I was one of the altar boys of the Church of the Missionaries and every morning I used to assist one or two masses. In addition, I was part of the small choir of singing children conducted by Fr. Tomàs Lluís Pujades.

So the last years of my childhood and all my adolescence developed around the remains of Fr. Claret. There, my devotion and knowledge of his personality grew, and there my vocation began. I remember me and my colleagues loving going up behind the altar to the transparent shrine where the body of the Saint was kept, only to see it and contemplate its bones covered with archbishop clothing. At the same time, I knew him through the little stories of his life that I heard from the Missionaries, especially Fr. Pujades and Fr. Bertrans and the illustrated booklets in the form of “comics” that were already circulating. I remember with devotion his novena and his festivity that was celebrated every year with solemnity and much participation of the people of Vic. All this was shaping the image of Fr. Claret in my conscience. It was not until I joined the novitiate, however, that I began to deepen into the knowledge of his life and his virtues in a more mature way. I can consider myself fortunate to have done my first profession at the foot of the sepulchre of Fr. Claret. I consider it as a great gift. In those early years, however, due to our condition of “Coadjutor Brothers”, we did not have access to study and reading, as the students and I remained in a remarkable ignorance that I filled the best I could after a few years. In spite of this, the devotion and general knowledge of our Founder was a constant goal during my first years of professed Brother.

I remember living with joy the celebration of his canonization that took place in Vic in 1950. I had been assigned to the community of Xàtiva.  On that occasion, our Superior Josep Lletjós, offered me the opportunity to go to Vic to participate in the celebration. From that day I remember especially the transfer procession of the remains from our church to the Cathedral and the moving celebration that took place there. The Cathedral was crowded with people from everywhere. And what drew my attention and impressed me most was the fervor and enthusiasm of the novices. I was fully aware that the canonization of Fr. Claret was a very special day for us, the Claretian. This marked me and filled me with joy.

In my life as a Claretian there have been several and progressive stages in the knowledge of our Founder. One was in October 1970, when I had been in the Philippines for some years.  On the occasion of the centennial of his death, in our church still under construction, of Saint Anthony Maria Claret of Zamboanga City, we celebrated his festivity preceded by a triduum “preached” by the three members forming that community. My turn was on the second day, and my topic was about the persecution that Claret suffered during his life and even after his death. This encouraged me to review the autobiography and other documents. The people who came to our church thanked us for that triduum and for making Fr. Claret’s life known to them. It should be said that the Claretians of the present Philippine province, almost all of them Filipinos, have managed to instill the devotion of Saint Anthony Maria Claret, especially to students who have been going the Zamboanga school and I can say the same about the other Claret schools that we have in the Philippines. In the trip I made later, in 1997, and then again in 2005, I found that the students of the Claret school in Zamboanga had a broad knowledge of Claret and professed great devotion and enthusiasm for their Patron. One afternoon I counted up to forty-two images of Fr. Claret, in different types and formats, strategically distributed within the campus of the school. On my second trip, in 2005, I had the opportunity to visit the Pangasinan church in the north of the archipelago, where the first Claretian Missionaries arrived from China, settled down in the Philippines for the first time , temporarily, until they went down to Zamboanga in 1947. The church still houses an altar dedicated to Saint Anthony Maria Claret, set up by those first Missionaries. But what drew my attention was that the altar was decorated with fresh natural flowers and half a dozen lit candlelight. This for me, was a clear signal that devotion to the saint remains alive among the people of Pangasinan after so many years of absence of Claretains in that place

My last research was on the occasion of 50th anniversary of his canonization, in 2000 (I was already in Catalonia). During the course of that year, I reread the Autobiography carefully, in its latest edition (Ed.Claret). One of the things that helped me to get to know the personality of Fr. Claret was his epistolary published at the end of the autobiography volume and the story of the last days of his life in Fontfroide (France). I picked up some features of the Holy Founder I did not know. All this made me more and more convinced that we have as Founder and Patron a great person, close, friendly and of great spiritual and human quality. We will never be thankful enough. It’s worth to be a member of his Congregation of Missionaries.

The virtues of the Saint that have impressed me most and have formed part of my daily life, are many. Here, however, I just want to highlight the following: his simplicity and kindness. His way to get closer to the plain people during his apostolic journeys, in such a way that he attracted everyone and he was understood by adults and children alike in his preaching and catechesis. This has been very helpful and encouraging in my life as a Claretian brother, especially during my time as a catechist. In addition, there is another thing: I have always liked drawing since my childhood, and as from my stay in the Missions of the Philippines I devoted myself fully to the catechesis of children and as a Coordinator of the diocesan catechesis of Zamboanga, I have used drawing as a tool to get the message across to catechists as well as to the pupils. Already, at that time, I began to make materials of “visual dynamics” that I went on perfecting and using as a catechist in the Philippines and in Catalonia after my return in 1983. Later, as well as having traveled twice to the Philippines to offer visual dynamics workshops to various groups of catechists, I was invited by the Claretians of Sri Lanka to present those same materials and some drawing workshops for catechists. I had discovered time before that Fr. Claret when he was young, had studied drawing at the Llotja de Barcelona and then he used drawings and images in his apostolic activity. I am quite aware that the use of images is a fully Claretian apostolate. I often entrust to Fr. Claret my graphic work for the apostolate so that he helps me to improve my technique to visually express the best the Word of the Gospel. Everything “for the greatest glory of God and the salvation of souls around the world” as he would say. Now I want to start deepening in the contemplative dimension of his life.

Many other things about Saint Anthony Maria Claret come to mind in my life. But this would exceed the space available for my report.

Antoni Daufí Moreso cmf

 

My life course as Claretian Brother,

I entered the Claretian Noviciate of Vic in 1946 and I took my first vows on October 23, 1947.

After my first profession I was assigned to the Community of Alagón (1 year). Then I stayed in the communities of Xàtiva (3 years), Girona (3 years) and Barcelona Gràcia and Llúria (3 years).

In 1957 I was sent by Fr. Schweiger to the recently founded mission of the Philippines. Out of my 23-year stay in the Philippines, 20 of them were spent  in Zamboanga City. The last three years in the Quezon City community. In 1983 I returned to the Province of Catalonia.

For the first 7 years of my destiny in the Philippines I stayed in  the Community of Zamboanga, at the service of our “Immaculate” church and carrying out other services from the community. At the foundation of the Claret School of Zamboanga, in 1964, I became part of that new community and at the service of the same school.

Among other things, I taught Plastic Arts as well as music to the students. After four years I began to do classes of religion, until in agreement with my superiors I decided to dedicate myself exclusively to the catechism outside the school. After some time the Archbishop of Zamboanga, Francisco Cruces appointed me as diocesan coordinator of catechesis. Meanwhile, I attended specialized catechetical courses at the “Pius XII Catechetical Center” in Manila. In 1979 my health began to weaken and in 1983 I had to return to the Province of Catalonia for medical treatment.

Upon arrival in Catalonia I was welcomed in the community of Montgat. I recovered and as soon as the health allowed me I followed my normal pace of activities in the Province. For four years I taught English at the Minor Seminary of the Conreria, and at the same time  I was in charge of the catechesis of the Parish of Mongat, and other related services. Other destinations in the province were: Valls (Parish of Lledó), Barcelona (Parish of Saint Thomas Aquinas) and currently, at the age of 90, in the community of Girona. Now, my commitment is to produce a weekly illustration based on the corresponding Sunday’s Gospel, which is published “on line” in the “Communicació Claretians.cat ” section of Editorial Claret.