Born in 1751 in what is now the Czech Republic, His Baptismal name was Johann and he was the 9th of 12 children born to Maria and Paul. 

At a young age, he felt called to be a priest but his father died when he was only six years old. With the help of his parish priest, he studied scripture and Latin but that ended when his parish priest died eight years later. 

He went to the Priory of the White Canons with the intention of becoming a baker. It was a time of war and great strife, leaving many homeless and hungry, and the priory bakers working day and night trying to feed as many as possible. 

Eventually, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and ended up visiting a Shrine to the Blessed Mother where he made the decision to become a hermit, taking the name Clement Mary and receiving a religious habit from the local Bishop. 

In his late 20s, the desire to become a priest sent him back home where he crossed paths with two women who sponsored his studies. 

Because the Emperor had closed over 1000 seminaries he was forced to study at the University of Vienna. 

After being ordained as a Redemptorist, he and another priest were sent to establish The Congregation of The Most Holy Redeemer north of The Alps, but after several years, political pressure forced them to move to Warsaw. There they established an orphanage and a school for boys. 

In spite of attracting many followers, the political intolerance of the time was too much, he was arrested and then expelled from Poland and eventually found his way back to Vienna, where he founded a Catholic College and came to be known as “The Apostle of Vienna”. 

Still, persecution continued and there were many attempts by governmental officials to force Clement Mary to abandon his ministry but he had become too popular, and he was able to grow the Remeptorists at an incredibly difficult time. 

He died on this day in 1820.

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, please pray for us.