About Saint Clare

On Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, the Bishop of Assisi left the alter to present a palm to a noble maiden, eighteen years of age, whom bashfulness had detained in her place. This maiden was St. Clare. Already, she had resolved to live for God alone. The same night she escaped, with one companion, to the Church of the Porzinuncola, where she was met by St. Francis and his brethren. At the altar of Our Lady, St. Francis cut off her hair, clothed her in his habit of penance, a piece of sack-cloth, with his cord as a girdle.

Thus she was espoused to Christ. In a miserable house outside Assisi she founded her Order, and was joined by her sister, fourteen years of age, and afterwards by her mother and other noble ladies. They went barefoot, observed perpetual abstinence, constant silence, and perfect poverty. While the Saracen army of Frerick II. was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, a body of infidels advanced to assalut St. Clare's convent, which stood outside Assisi. The Saint caused the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in a monstance, kneeling before it, prayed, "Deliver not to beasts, O Lord, the souls of those who confess to Thee." a voice from the Host replied, "My protection will never fail you." A sudden panic seized the infidel host, which took to flight, and the Saint's convent was spared. During her illness of twenty-eight years the Holy Eucharist was her only support and spinning linen for the alter the one work of her hands. She died in 1253, as the Passion was being read, and Our Lady and the angels conducted her to glory.

Source: taken from the book, "Lives of the Saints."

The Blessing of Saint Clare

O wondrous blessed clarity of Clare!
In life she shone to a few;
after death she shines on the whole world!
On earth she was a clear light;
Now in heaven she is a brilliant sun.

O how great the vehemence of the
brilliance of this clarity!
On earth this light was indeed kept
within cloistered walls,
yet shed abroad its shining rays;
It was confined within a convent cell,
yet spread itself through the wide world.

- Pope Innocent IV

St. Clare Catholic Church and Parish.
All Rights Reserved. © 2007. Privacy Policy.