St. Clement Hofbauer

          On March 15th we celebrate Saint Clement Hofbauer who was born in 1791. While young, he felt the call towards priesthood. Unfortunately, his family was poor and unable to afford the cost of sending him to a seminary. Instead, he undertook an apprenticeship as a baker. Years later, he became the baker at a monastery and his self-sacrifice during a famine won the approval of the abbot, who then allowed him to take classes in Latin. He made two pilgrimages to Rome and on the latter one, met two women who graciously volunteered to pay for him to enter as a novitiate in the Redemptorists' order. The Redemporists were founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonso Liguori and focus on preaching, writing, spiritual exercises, and especially in missionary work among non-Christians. He was ordained a priest in 1785, at the age of 34, and was sent North to minister to the Polish and German peoples.

          St. Clement is famous for preaching in the streets. Because of his preaching, he was able to help convert many Protestants and Jews. He also founded an orphanage to care for the children left behind in the wake of several wars at the time. He went around begging for alms to support his work with the poor. Later on, he was even able to found a school for boys.

          After 20 years of labor in Warsaw, he was forced to give up his work when he was arrested and imprisoned because of Napoleon's command to suppress all religious orders. He continued to minister to the prisoners and was eventually expelled for fear of his converting too many prisoners. Saint Clement moved to Vienna after his release and was appointed rector of a public church. He continued to preach, hear confessions, and minister to the sick for the remaining twelve years of his life. His holiness was renowned far and wide. He died on March 15, 1820 and was canonized in 1909.