Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer

Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer was born in 1751 in Tasswitz, in the Czech Republic. His parents had twelve children, he was the ninth child in this very simple and poor family. He only received the name Clemente when he became a hermit. However, his baptismal name was John.

A worker from an early age: Patron Saint of Bakers
After his father's death, he had to learn a trade. He was unable to continue the Latin studies he began at the Parish House until he was 14 years old. He was then sent to a bakery, in 1770, in a monastery. Working as a baker, he met two ladies in Vienna, who offered to pay for his studies, as he was unable to do so.

Vocation
In 1771, Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer traveled to Tivoli to become a hermit there, asking the local bishop to wear the habit. From then on, he took the name Clemente Maria. As a hermit, he always kept prayer and work very close in his life.

Living for a short time as a hermit, he had to return to his job as a baker. With the help of the two distinguished ladies, he completed his Philosophy studies. He didn't see this being the path God wanted for him.

In 1784, Clemente and a friend made a pilgrimage to Italy and, soon after, decided to enter religious life. Shortly afterwards, they were accepted into the Redemptorist novitiate of Saint Julian in Rome. The following year, he and his friend professed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, on Saint Joseph's Day on March 19. A few days later, he became a priest.

Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer and the Holy Rosary

Deep prayer
Since he was a child, his favorite prayer was the Holy Rosary, which he prayed with his family and carried with him until the end of his life. Bear in mind that he also blessed many rosaries. He always said that, through this devotion, he got everything he asked from God, calling it “his library”. He thus nurtured a deep intimacy with Our Lady.

It was a man who, literally, knocked on the door of the tabernacle. He did this practice in his moments of worship so that, in his heart, an unshakable trust in Jesus and his friendship with him would grow. Thus increasing his missionary zeal and telling Jesus that he was there with Him.

Your Apostolate
He was the first Redemptorist outside Italy. But unable to carry out his mission in Austria, he was sent to Warsaw, Poland, where he lived his mission among poor orphans, giving them shelter and instruction in the faith. Thus, the number of boys grew a lot until the Refugio Menino Jesus was opened to house them.

Persecution and the end of life

Redemptorists
His apostolate grew more and more with his Redemptorist brothers, creating what they called the perpetual Mission. There they attended confessions at any time of the day or night, in addition to giving sermons in German and Polish every day. They were persecuted from all sides, both in politics and by the people and even in the local church, being prevented from giving sermons and attending confessions, to the point of being arrested and, finally, expelled from the country.

The last days
He returned to Vienna, Austria, where he lived until his death on March 15, 1820. Until the end of his life, he attended to the sick in that turbulent period of war, gave sermons with enormous wisdom, and his reputation for holiness grew. evidently in the city, where, at the end of his life, he managed to see permission for the Redemptorists to settle in Austria despite much persecution.