Saint of the day: San Clemente

Clement could be called the second founder of the Redemptorists, since it was he who brought the congregation of Sant'Alfonso Liguori to the people north of the Alps.

Giovanni, the name he was given at baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the ninth of 12 children. Although he wished to become a priest, there was no money for his studies and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided the young man's fortunes. He found work in a monastery bakery where he was allowed to attend classes at his Latin school. After the abbot's death, John attempted the life of a hermit, but when Emperor Joseph II abolished the hermitages, John returned again to Vienna and to the kitchen.

One day, after serving mass in St. Stephen's Cathedral, he called a carriage for two ladies who were waiting there in the rain. In their conversation they learned that he could not continue his priestly studies due to lack of funds. They generously offered to support both Giovanni and his friend Taddeo in their seminary studies. The two went to Rome, where they were attracted by the vision of the religious life of Saint Alphonsus and by the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in 1785.

As soon as he was professed at the age of 34, Clement Maria, as he was now called, and Taddeo were sent back to Vienna. But religious difficulties there forced them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There they met numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left without a priest by the suppression of the Jesuits. In the beginning they had to live in great poverty and preach outdoor sermons. Eventually they received the church of San Benno and for the next nine years preached five sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to the faith. They have been active in social work among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys.

By attracting candidates to the congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany, and Switzerland. All these foundations eventually had to be abandoned due to the political and religious tensions of the time. After 20 years of hard work, Clemente Mary himself was imprisoned and expelled from the country. Only after another arrest did he manage to reach Vienna, where he would have lived and worked for the last 12 years of his life. He quickly became "the apostle of Vienna", listening to the confessions of the rich and the poor, visiting the sick, acting as an advisor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with everyone in the city. His masterpiece was the establishment of a Catholic college in his beloved city.

Persecution followed Clement Mary, and there were those in authority who managed to stop him from preaching for a while. An attempt was made at the highest level to have him expelled. But his holiness and fame protected him and stimulated the growth of the Redemptorists. Thanks to his efforts, the congregation was firmly established north of the Alps at the time of his death in 1820. Clement Maria Hofbauer was canonized in 1909. His liturgical feast is March 15.

Reflection: Clemente Mary has seen her life's work run into disaster. Religious and political tensions forced him and his brothers to leave their ministries in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Clement Maria himself was exiled from Poland and had to start all over again. Someone once pointed out that followers of Jesus crucified should only see new possibilities open up whenever they encounter failure. Clemente Maria encourages us to follow his example, trusting in the Lord who guides us.