Jaume Clotet Fabres

On July 16, 1849, Jaume Clotet Fabres participated, alongside Antoni Maria Claret and four other priests (Esteban Sala, José Xifré, Domingo Fábregas, and Manuel Vilaró), in the foundation of the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (commonly known as Claretian Missionaries) in a cell at the seminary of Vic. Jaume Clotet was then the youngest of the group of co-founders, not yet quite 27 years old. Within the new congregation, Father Clotet first dedicated himself to popular missions, spiritual retreats, and catechesis. In 1858, he was elected sub-director general of the congregation, a governing role he would exercise without interruption for thirty years, until 1888. In this position, he played a crucial role in the structuring of the nascent institute, particularly overseeing the spiritual and practical formation of the congregation's first coadjutor brothers. Parallel to his administrative duties, Father Clotet distinguished himself through a pioneering and remarkable pastoral work: the evangelization and education of deaf-mute persons, who were then largely marginalized by society. Taking advantage of a period of convalescence after knee surgery, he learned natural sign language, codified this method of communication, and in 1870 published a major work titled Catecismo de sordomudos (Catechism for the Deaf-Mute), as well as a manual for catechists. His dedication to this cause earned him immense gratitude from deaf communities in Catalonia and beyond.

Father Clotet dedicated a deep filial admiration and affection to the founder, Saint Antoni Maria Claret. He accompanied him faithfully during his final days of exile and illness at the Cistercian monastery of Fontfroide, in France, where the founder passed away on October 24, 1870. Father Clotet then became the first great chronicler and biographer of Saint Antoni Maria Claret, meticulously gathering testimonies and historical documents to preserve his memory and prepare for his future cause for beatification. He notably published a Resumen de la admirable vida del Excmo. e Ilmo. Antonio María Claret y Clará in 1882, and then wrote between 1891 and 1892 a monumental biography of nearly one thousand pages, Vida edificante del P. Claret, misionero y fundador (which would remain unpublished until 2000). Starting in 1889, he became fully involved in the introduction of the founder's cause for beatification to the Bishopric of Vic. In June 1897, by then almost blind, he had the joy of accompanying the transfer of the remains of Antoni Maria Claret from Fontfroide to Vic.

After a life entirely given to God and his congregation, Father Jaume Clotet Fabres retired, due to his blindness and declining health, to the mission house of Gràcia in Barcelona. He died there in the odor of sanctity on February 4, 1898, at the age of 75. His mortal remains rest today in a side altar of the Sanctuary of the Heart of Mary in Barcelona. His own cause for beatification was introduced at the diocesan level in Barcelona and Vic. The decree on his writings was signed on March 14, 1952, and his cause was officially introduced in Rome on April 10, 1964. On May 13, 1989, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Jaume Clotet Fabres is characterized by a remarkable balance between intense apostolic activity and a deep contemplative inner life. During his declaration of venerability, Pope John Paul II summarized his mission within the institute with these words: "a firm defender of the inner life in an intensely apostolic institute." He knew how to transmit to the first generations of Claretians, and particularly to the brothers, a mysticism of the constant presence of God in the midst of daily tasks. His legacy is perpetuated today not only through the vitality of the Congregation of Missionary Claretians present throughout the world, but also through specific works dedicated to deaf people, such as the "Centro Clotet" school in Mexico City, named in his memory.