Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop

Born in the north of Spain, this saint started out working in cloth weaving, his father’s trade. He used his spare time to learn Latin and printing. When he was twenty-two, Anthony entered the seminary where he was ordained six years later. He was sent by the pope to Cuba where he was to be the Archbishop of Santiago, the largest archdiocese in Cuba. This assignment proved to be a challenge for all of his speaking and management skills. Most of the priests were no longer living in their rectories, many had taken mistresses, and the churches were run down. With the clergy in such a state, the laity could hardly be expected to be more sanctified. Many of the faithful had not been confirmed and thousands of marriages had not been blessed in the Church. Within his first year, Bishop Claret had instituted reforms, given retreats for his priests, confirmed 100,000 people, and blessed 40,000 marriages.

God sometimes throws us into seemingly impossible situations and asks us to straighten things out. Such was the dilemma which Anthony found himself in as the archbishop of Santiago. With God’s grace, he dug in and cleaned up the mess that he found. We can also accomplish much in a bad situation if we rely on God’s grace to see us through.