If you needed someone to take on new ventures in changing times and difficult circumstances, then Clement Hofbauer would be the person to do it. He was independent, resourceful and very much a man of God. Ironically, Clement was a late bloomer. He had tried many good things in his youth and early adulthood, but had not quite found his place in the world.

The ninth of 12 children, Clement was born to Mary and Paul Hofbauer in Tasswitz, Moravia in 1751. At the age of 29, after being a baker and a hermit, Clement entered the University of Vienna. At this time, the Church was out of favour and suffering persecution, making study for the priesthood difficult.

During a pilgrimage to Italy in 1784, Clement and his friend Thaddeus Huebl decided to join a religious community. They found the Redemptorists and entered the novitiate at San Giuliano. In the following year, they took their vows as Redemptorists and entered the congregation. Ten days later, they were ordained to the priesthood at the Alatri Cathedral.