M. LOZANO, Un hombre en la presencia de Dios. Estudio sobre la experiencia espiritual del Siervo de Dios, 
P. Jaime Clotet, C.M.F., (A man in the presence of God. Study on the spiritual experience of the Servant of God, Fr. Jaime Clotet, C.M.F.), Grottaferrata (Rome) 1971, 341 pp.
While the books by M. Garnica and A. M. Arranz, recently reviewed, focused especially on historical facts, Lozano’s work tries to deepen the inner spiritual reality of Fr. Clotet. In this sense, it is among the best, if not the best, that has been written about the Servant of God so far. Lozano was also a great expert of the history of Christian spirituality and a prolific writer on the spiritual life of great characters; suffice it to remember his book on Claret: “Un místico de la acción. San Antonio María Claret”, Ed. Claret, Barcelona 1983, 2nd ed., 439 pp, also available in English: “Mystic and Man of Action. Saint Anthony Mary Claret”, Claretian Publ., Chicago 1977, XX-345 pp.
Lozano already tells us in the Introduction that the experience he is going to present is “both extremely simple and profound” (p. 5). To meet a character, you have to take into account: 1) a nature, a physio-psychological heritage, 2) an environment, and 3) an unrepeatable personal experience. There also comes in action the supernatural reality of divine grace. In Clotet, despite not possessing a deep theological culture or a historical sense, his originality will be in a double experience: 1) that of the passivity, liberality and freedom of the divine gifts, and 2) the fact of being tendentially a pure contemplative and, at the same time, deputy director general of a Congregation of Missionaries. A personality that will gradually crystallize and acquire the definitive profiles of him; it will be simplified until it becomes “a pure loving gaze directed towards the depths of one’s own soul” (p. 9).
After a brief summary of Clotet’s biographical data (pp. 11-13), the author proposes a bibliography of Clotet’s writings and works about him (pp. 15-19). The body of the book follows, divided into ten chapters (pp. 21-218); and it ends with a whole series of documents of the biography: spiritual notes (pp. 219-337). Clotet was aware of living in a privileged time: that of the life of Claret, the Founder, and of the first configuration of the Congregation. Hence his passion for collecting news, photos and dates that could later be useful. In fact, this helped him to write a biography of Claret in 1871, the year after Claret’s death, and another much longer one finished in 1892. The latter was first published in 2000, thanks to Fr. J. Bermejo (XXXVIII-922 pp.). Among the cento of writings that have come down to us, Lozano uses here only those that mostly reveal Clotet’s inner life.
The ten chapters, which form the body of this study, are progressively divided into the following themes: 1) the convulsive political, social and ecclesial environment (pp. 21-35); 2) the spiritual environment (pp. 37-52); 3) the man Jaime Clotet (pp. 53-66); 4) dispositive graces (pp. 67-84); 5) his initial attitude (pp. 85-105); 6) simple attention (pp. 107-125); 7) divine attraction (pp. 127-136); 8) the joy of presence (pp. 137-160); 9) the spiritual world of Fr. Clotet (pp. 161-195); 10) Jaime Clotet, Claretian (pp. 197-218). Now, we are giving a brief summary of each of them.
The Spanish 19th century had contrasting characteristics: On the one hand, the low theological level, with its apologetic, devotional and ascetic concerns; and, on the other, the numerous saints. Cultural decline and spring of countless new foundations and apostolic and charitable initiatives. Clotet will soak up many of the most widely read works of his time; among them, “Exercises of perfection” by Rodríguez, “Imitation of Christ” by Kempis, and the precautions of Saint Juan de la Cruz.
After presenting the general context (cc. 1 and 2), c. 3 tells us about the family, social and religious environment, closest to him. Thus, we can better understand what kind of man Clotet was. He was lucky to have a good soul (cf. Ps 8, 19) and a delicate conscience; goodness, candour and simplicity, order, sense of duty and prudence, qualities that accompanied him throughout his life.
In addition to this human base, certainly one of the main dispositive gifts received (c. 4), if not the fundamental one, was the gift of the almost continuous presence of God during the first year of priesthood; he will retake it many years later. As a base was his excellent religious formation in his family, then in the Jesuit college of Manresa, and later during the years of seminary in Barcelona and Vic. Later, the more propitious horizon he found in the nascent Casa-Misión of Vic, after a brief experience as a parish priest in a couple of villages, which did not quite fulfil his aspirations.
In the initial attitude (c. 5), preparatory to the mystical experience, we note in Clotet the ascetic effort to comply with the rules and regulations, his sense of method, his continuous resolutions, his attention to detail, his analytical and practical sense…, all of this as a way of obeying God in everyday life and thus expressing their love for Him. All of this was typical of a very common mentality at the time, although he tried to give it greater spiritual depth.
This type of life could have made him fall into scruples (c.6). It seems that he had been somewhat inclined to it. In any case, with the passage of time, experience showed him that a total material perfection was impossible, and that there are limits that are involuntary, and this fact must be accepted, renewing trust in God. Thus, little by little, he went from paying attention to actions to emphasizing love for God and recollection. His gaze moved from the actions to attention in the presence of God. From 1875, recollection and the presence of God focused all his efforts. Hence the importance given more and more to the renewed rectitude of intention in actions, in order to love God. To this was added the frequent imagination of the Lord’s Passion, the repetition of ejaculatory prayers and the effort to maintain peace of mind.
As we have already suggested, from 1875 a period began in Clotet’s spiritual life marked by numerous and great graces (c. 7). He was in Thuir (France). He began to consecrate all his efforts to continually living in the divine presence. He felt the presence and attraction of God, and consciously collaborated in favour of the habitual experience of this divine presence. He felt an impulse, a frequent call from God, accompanied by interior peace and recollection. He became more interested in the testimony of the mystics, in particular Saint Teresa. Distractions in prayer were becoming more and more unusual.
Thus, little by little, Clotet went from infused recollection to prayer of stillness and ultimately to that of simple union (c. 8). He was enjoying the divine presence, as we said, a grace that became habitual. In 1881 some imaginative phenomena began to take place in him. At the same time the passive purifications of the spirit also began. He was experiencing moments of particularly intense spiritual moments, although transitory. Since 1892, returned from Thuir to Spain, he began to speak of the continuous presence of God. Other extraordinary gifts that were taking place, from then on, were that of prophecy, the frequent notices and locutions from God and the Virgin.
In c. 9, Lozano tries to synthesize the spiritual world of Clotet. We have already seen how from a gaze scattered over a multitude of details, he gradually concentrated on the presence of God in the soul, reaching a great simplicity and unity: God alone is enough, of Teresian memory. Along with the uniqueness of God, he vividly perceived his goodness: God is a loving Father; hence his total confidence in Him, not excluding the holy fear of Him. In short, he arrived at a religiosity with a clearly optimistic outlook. All this centred on the mystery of Christ as the Incarnate Word, above all on his humanity: Jesus the Child and the Crucified. In him, God has become visible. Thus, it was not so much the divinity of the Word that attracted him, as the manifestation of divinity in humanity. All this fit very well with his vision and his affective character. In other words, he passed from an initial attitude, in his early years, to the mysteries of the life of Christ, so much prone to an ascetic vision, to the mystical fullness of seeing the epiphany of Christ in the depths of our being, in intimate key. A spirituality that gradually became “cult”, in the sense of adoration, contemplation and prayer. From all this, Lozano infers that Clotet “was fundamentally a contemplative” (p. 185). To further highlight the difference with respect to Claret, the author says: “…for the great apostle, love unfolds into loving and making love; the second is concerned with his personal relationship with God. For the Saint, the occupations in which the presence of God lives are the ministries; he never felt so much in God as when he was crowded by the mob. For the Servant of God, occupations are domestic duties. The mob was not his world, but his cell, and the conversations were his great concern. The first reacts to mystical graces with apostolic impulses. None of these is visible in the second” (p. 189). Same Paul’s phrase “caritas Christi urget nos” led Claret to launch himself into the apostolate, impelled Clotet to do his daily chores with fervour (cf. ibid.). God had not called him to an intense apostolate, although he exercised the ministry as and when he could. The catechesis of the deaf and dumb itself was no more than an occasional ministry (cf. p. 188).
Having reached these conclusions, it was logical that Lozano would dedicate the last chapter (c. 10) to Clotet’s Claretianism: was his spirituality not very “Claretian”? It begins with the famous pseudo-casual meeting between Claret and Clotet in view of the founding of the Institute. In fact, Clotet lived a great love for the Congregation, which was always manifested in a deep and sincere devotion to Claret and fidelity to the constitutions. They came to call him “the living rule”, worried about obedience; hence even some problems and tensions with Fr. Xifré, superior general (cf. pp. 204-206). On the other hand, Claret always showed a certain predilection for Clotet, as can be seen when he openly expands with him, explaining in his letters his wishes regarding the Institute. His influence on the Congregation through his years as deputy director general, secretary general and local superior of the main communities was enormous. We can see it in the evolution of the primitive apostolic Institute towards the canonical form of religious Congregation. Clotet was very clearly aware of the missionary nature of the Institute; but, in him, his own sanctification clearly prevailed over the apostolic finality of the salvation of souls. In this he clearly distinguished himself from Claret’s view. There he reflected his own vocation and his personal experience. He busied himself, therefore, above all with the interior ministry of government and domestic occupations, as appears in his propositions and homilies. Bearing all this in mind, was he an example of “claretianism”? He certainly wanted to be a faithful son of the Founder, and never hindered the intense apostolic ministry of the first generations; in fact, after his death, Fr. Xifré proposed him as an example of religious life in a circular to the entire Institute. Very different from Fr. Xifré’s way of acting, he obeyed him, but he had no difficulty in opposing him, meekly and humbly, when he thought it appropriate. All these created moments of tension. There were two complementary forces: Xifré’s centrifugal, Clotet’s centripetal. Both undoubtedly believed to be providential for the good of the Institute and with sincere conscience duties, one in favour of its external expansion and the other in favour of its internal consolidation (cf. pp. 215-218).
It is striking that, speaking of the graces received, the resolutions and faults of which he was sometimes accused, after the gift and the insistence on the purpose of renewing God’s presence, we find, for example, references to “minutiae” such as to the finding of lost objects… Among his resolutions, in addition to recollection, silence and prudence in speaking, curiously he speaks of overcoming drowsiness and distractions in prayer or during conferences and… listening humbly and in silence to reprimands and notices of Fr. General, J. Xifré (cf., for example, pp. 57-58, 86, 91, 142-143, 154-157, 204-206, 215-218, 257, 267, 285, 287, 288, 318, 319, 330, 337).
Lozano dedicates the last part of the book to collect Clotet’s spiritual notes (cf. pp. 219-337) in the form of a notebook of graces (pp. 227-244), of resolutions, which go from July 1845 to September 1897 (pp. 245-313), and faults (pp. 317-327); and concludes with some spiritual notes (pp. 331-337). It is not, far from it, all what Clotet wrote, but rather what seemed most significant to the author for his objective; and, in addition, he has divided it into three blocks of interest, thus facilitating the interest and work of the reader. It is appreciated, given that these are writings not easy to find and consult.
As we said at the beginning, it is the most complete and organized study on the spirituality of Fr. J. Clotet; done, moreover, by an author who is very knowledgeable about the history of Christian spirituality in general, and of Claretian spirituality in particular. As a limitation, perhaps we could advise the reader to read this volume calmly, because reading could sometimes seem somewhat repetitive.
J. Rovira, C.M.F.