If you could pick one saint who truly lived with the Rosary in his hands,
it would be St. Anthony Mary Claret. This incredible Spanish priest, whose
feast we celebrate on October 24th, didn't just pray the Rosary, he practically
breathed it. Born in 1807, he became a weaver before God called him to the
priesthood, and just like he once wove threads into beautiful cloth, he wove
the mysteries of the Rosary into every single day of his life. The beads became
his weapon, his comfort, and his constant conversation with Our Lady.
What's amazing about St. Anthony Mary Claret is that he wasn't sitting quietly
in a chapel praying all day, though he did plenty of that too! He was a
missionary on fire, traveling all over Spain and Cuba, preaching in towns and
villages, hearing confessions for hours, writing books, and even serving as the
confessor to Queen Isabella II of Spain. Through it all, the Rosary never left
his side. He would pray it while walking between towns, before giving a sermon,
after hearing confessions, and before going to sleep. Our Lady wasn't just
someone he prayed to occasionally, she was his Mother, and the Rosary was how
he stayed close to her heart every single day.
Here's the beautiful part: St. Anthony Mary Claret saw the Rosary as pure
power. Not magical power, but the power of grace flowing from Jesus through
Mary. He would tell people that the Rosary could convert the hardest hearts,
bring peace to troubled souls, and protect families from evil. And he proved
it! Wherever he preached about the Rosary and encouraged people to pray it,
amazing things happened. People would come back to the sacraments, families
would reconcile, and whole communities would turn back to God. He founded the
Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Claretians), and guess
what he told them? Pray the Rosary every day, without fail.
So how do we follow in his footsteps? St. Anthony Mary Claret shows us that the
Rosary isn't meant to be complicated or intimidating, it's meant to be our
daily companion. You don't need to pray it perfectly or feel super holy while
doing it. Just pick up those beads and start. Pray it on your commute, during
your lunch break, while folding laundry, or before bed. Let Mary walk with you
through your daily life, just like she walked with St. Claret through his busy,
demanding days. He trusted that every Hail Mary was bringing him closer to
Jesus, and we can trust the same thing.
The real lesson from St. Anthony Mary Claret is this: the Rosary isn't just
another devotion to add to our list, it's a relationship. It's spending time
with Mary, letting her lead us to her Son, and allowing the mysteries of Jesus’
life to transform our own. St. Claret didn't become a saint because he was
perfect; he became a saint because he stayed close to Our Lady through the
Rosary, and she kept him close to Jesus. If we want to grow in holiness, if we
want to face our daily struggles with grace, if we want to bring others to Jesus
like he did, then we need to do what he did: keep those beads in our hands and
Our Lady in our hearts. The Rosary made St. Anthony Mary Claret a saint. Just
imagine what it could do for us.
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
