May 7, Canonization of Father Founder

On this same day in 1950 Anthony Mary Claret was canonized. St. Peter’s Basilica was packed with pilgrims. The ceremonies began at 8:30 am with the Eucharist presided by Pope Pius XII. Of course, the most exciting moment was when the Pope spoke his magisterial and definitive judgment: “We decree and define that Blessed Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop and Confessor, is a saint and is now inscribed in the catalogue of saints”.

Pope Pius XII described very well the new saint: “A great soul, born to embrace contrasts; of humble origins yet highly esteemed in the eyes of the world; small in stature, yet gifted with a magnanimous spirit; modest in appearance, but commanding the respect of the most powerful and influential. He was of strong character but gentle as the result of austerity and penance; always in the presence of God even in the midst of his prodigious activity; slandered and admired, celebrated and persecuted. Among so many wonders, like a soft light that illuminates everything, his devotion to the Mother of God”

We can celebrate this day as an explicit invitation to imitate Claret in living out our own missionary vocation to holiness.