Los Ejercicios Espirituales de San Ignacio en la experiencia espiritual de San Antonio María Claret (1807-1870)

Abstract

San Antonio María Claret (1807-1870) practica asiduamente los Ejercicios Espirituales de San Ignacio de Loyola. Ellos despliegan en su proceso espiritual una sólida dinámica que potencia su vida de oración y su discernimiento, a partir de cuatro verbos: conocer, amar, servir y alabar. En fidelidad a su vocación misionera, Claret adopta los Ejercicios como medio evangelizador, y a su vez los adapta según su carisma misionero a fin de proponer una reforma de vida a los sacerdotes, religiosos y laicos a los se dirige, para lograr que ellos se involucren activamente en la tarea evangelizadora de la Iglesia del siglo XIX español. Realizamos nuestra aproximación a través de una mirada comparativa a los esquemas de Ejercicios que dio y practicó junto a los miembros de su comunidad misionera en Cuba durante cinco años consecutivos (1852-1856) para conocer las similitudes, diferencias, particularidades y silencios entre la práctica claretiana de Ejercicios y la experiencia original del santo de Loyola. A partir de esta mirada, queremos descubrir las implicaciones que la práctica de Claret -en su doble rol de ejercitante y ejercitador- sugiere a la misión claretiana del siglo XXI.

Saint Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) assiduously practised the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. In his spiritual process, the Exercises developed a solid dynamic that strengthened his prayer life and his discernment, based on four verbs: to know, to love, to serve and to praise. In fidelity to his missionary vocation, Claret adopts the Exercises as a means of evangelisation, and at the same time adapts them according to his missionary charism in order to propose a reform of life to the priests, religious and lay people to whom he addresses himself, so that they become actively involved in the evangelising task of the Church in the Spanish 19th century. We make our approach through a comparative look at the outlines of the Exercises that he gave and practised together with the members of his missionary community in Cuba during five consecutive years (1852-1856) in order to know the similarities, differences, particularities and silences between the Claretian practice of Exercises and the original experience of the saint of Loyola. From this perspective, we want to discover the implications that Claret's practice -in his double role of exercitant and who gives the Spiritual Exercises- suggests to the Claretian mission of the 21st century.