Marcos GARNICA FERNÁNDEZ, cmf., He who saw testifies. Brief biography of Fr. Jaime Clotet, co-founder of the Congregation, col. “Claretianos de ayer y de hoyn. 4, Argentina 2015, p. 32 (an English edition is available).

We are in the middle of the bicentennial of the birth of the Claretian Fr. Jaime Clotet y Fabrés. It is very suitable to remember once again his life and missionary work.  Some important biographies have been written about him, such as: M. AGUILAR, Biografía del Siervo de Dios P. Jaime Clotet y Fabrés, Barcelona 1907, 451 pp.; J. M. LOZANO, Un hombre en la presencia de Dios, Rome 1971, 341 pp.; M. SEGURA, Jaime Clotet catequista de sordomudos, UPS, Rome 1986, 104 pp., unpublished. You can also consult: J. ALVAREZ, Misioneros Claretianos, vol. I, Claretian Publications, Madrid 1993, esp. pp. 200-208; id., vol. II, Madrid 1997, esp. pp. 172-178 (English Ed., Claretian Missionaries, vol. I, Claretian Publications, Quezon City –Philippines- 1994, spec. pp. 180-184; id., vol. II, 1997, spec. pp. 152-159). Cf. also the references alluded to in: San ANTONIO MARIA CLARET, Autobiografía y escritos complementarios, Edit. Claretian, Buenos Aires 2008, p. 956 (English Ed., St. ANTHONY MARY CLARET, Autobiography and Complementary Writings, Claretian Publications, Bangalore –India- 2011, p. 1129). What we present here is little more than a brochure; but it contains the essentials of the life of this great Claretian. Being, in addition, a short publication, it is more accessible to many readers who approach it.

Marcos Garnica is a Mexican Claretian missionary. His little book intends to be a tribute to Fr. Clotet, famous for having been a catechist for the deaf and for having even written a book entitled: “The communication of thought through natural signs, that is, Rules to understand and be understood by a deaf-mute”. Garnica begins with a imagined dialogue between the Director of the “Clotet Centre” (Mexico) and a young man, vocationally eager and a volunteer collaborator in said Centre. In that country the Claretians have privileged, since the beginning of the 20th century, the human and spiritual promotion of the deaf. This dialogue will continue in some way throughout these pages, as its common thread. The little book is divided into nine short chapters, almost all of them rightly headed by a biblical quote, applying it to the life of Fr. Clotet.

  1. “He increased in wisdom and age and grace” (Lk 2,52). Here we are told of his birth on July 24, 1822 in Manresa (Spain). Since childhood he was characterized by authentic humility, religiosity, modesty and good manners that, despite being physically unattractive, gave him a friendly and benevolent air. This aroused admiration and respect from those around him.
  2. “The Lord called me from my mother’s womb” (Is 49,1). Wanting to prepare to be a priest, he studied at the Jesuit college in Manresa; then at the University of Barcelona and at the seminary in the same city. When the Spanish government prohibited the ordination of seminarians, the young Clotet went to Perpignan (France) and then to Rome where he was finally ordained on July 20, 1845, at the age of 23. He later returned to Spain, where he finished his studies and prepared himself for the priestly ministry.
  3. “He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Lk 4,18). At first, he was assigned to small towns where he stood out for his enthusiastic dedication to catechesis and care for the sick and the poorest. As early as 1848, being in the small town of Santa María de Civit, he conceived his charitable work in favour of the deaf; a dedication and concern that would accompany him throughout his life. But he realized that there was a “hunger for God” in a society that was torn by civil wars and apostolic abandonment. Hence, he explained to his superiors his desire to leave the parish ministry and live his priesthood in a missionary style and, at the same time, aspired to a way of life in common. He had heard of a great popular missionary, Don Antonio Claret, and that he was looking for other priests who wanted to dedicate themselves to itinerant preaching and living together.
  4. “Today a great work begins.” Clotet met with Claret on July 15, 1849 and, despite his doubts, motivated by his physical limitations, he was enthusiastic about the idea of ​​meeting him and others the next day, to start a new community. In it, Clotet, being 27, was the youngest. From then on, he was a Claret enthusiast. He recognized that he did not have the skills to be a preacher to the multitudes, but he dedicated himself with great success to catechesis, to giving Spiritual Exercises, to an intense life of prayer and contemplative interiority, to study and to emotional closeness with the brothers of the community, with simple people and preferential service to the poor.
  5. “It is better for you that I go away” (Jn 16,7). Claret’s departure as Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba was a great test for the nascent community. Upon Claret’s return to Spain in 1857, the group began to expand with the revision of the Constitutions, and to grow numerically, under the direction of Fr. José Xifré, after the death of the first superior, Fr. Esteban Sala (1858). From that moment on, Clotet was going to be a key character in the life of the group.
  6. “You know, Lord, what is in the hearts of all. Show us, therefore, which of the two you have chosen” (Acts 1,24). With Fr. Xifré (1858-1899) he began a long and surprising congregational development, with new fields of apostolate and in new countries. Clotet was elected deputy director, a position in which he lasted thirty consecutive years (1858-1888) and then general secretary (1888-1891). Throughout those years, Clotet was a key figure in the internal service of the Congregation as a trainer, counsellor, complementary to the way of being and acting of Fr. Xifré. Both very different, enthusiasts, however, of Claret and of the Congregation. Clotet saw confirmed his dedication to catechesis, in particular of the deaf-mute; especially decisive was his mission also in favour of the missionary brothers and their formation.
  7. “I shall not call you servants any more. Instead, I call you friends” (Jn 15:15). In fact, Clotet did not live much time with Claret; but, from the earliest times until the death of the saint, he enjoyed a profound harmony, filial love, friendship and spiritual communion with him, all of which was reinforced through epistolary communication and the visits that the archbishop made from time to time to the communities of Vic and Gracia. Clotet has always kept many memories of the founder in writing; Thanks to this, after his death, the beatification process could begin. As soon as he died, Clotet already wrote a memoir of Claret. Then in 1882, another more complete work entitled: “Resumen de la admirable vida del Excmo e Ilmo. Sr. Don Antonio María Claret”. Finally, he dedicated himself to preparing a very rich biography that was published only in the year 2000 (“Vida edificante del P. Claret, misionero y fundador”, pp. XXVIII + 922); he organized a first museum of objects belonging to Claret and to print and disseminate the first images of him. For this reason, the concluding words of Saint John’s Gospel can rightly be applied to Clotet: “This is the testimony given by one who saw it; his testimony is true and Another knows that he speaks the truth. This man gives his witness so that you may believe as well” (John 19,35); words that define him as a faithful, credible, convincing witness.
  8. “I have found a man after my own heart” (Acts 13,22). Clotet was a man who had no enemies, he permanently showed the grace of living in the presence of the Lord, creating an environment of trust and love around him.
  9. “I have finished the race, now there is laid up for me the crown” (2Tim 4,7-8). His health was weakening, becoming almost blind. He died in Gracia on February 4, 1898. His remains rest in the church that the Claretians have in that town, today part of the great Barcelona. In 1923 the cause for his beatification began. John Paul II declared him venerable in 1989; in the speech the pope defined him as a: “… firm defender of the interior life in an intensely apostolic Institute… He gave constant evidence of prudence…, a model of justice, of interior and exterior peace, of moderation, of delicacy of conscience, of limitless confidence in divine grace… (He gained) the admiration of all”.

The writing of Fr. M. Garnica gives us a synthesis in which we can see reflected the echoes of what the human and spiritual experience of this great Claretian missionary was. The brevity of it allows us to glimpse a great figure and leaves us with the desire to know even more deeply this simple and holy man, in love with Christ and Claret.

J. Rovira, c.m.f.

(Director of “Studia Claretiana”)