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Saturday, August 20, 2022

St. Clare of Assisi, Virgin

Born of a noble family

St. Clare was born at Assisi, Italy, on July 11, to Faverone Offreduccio and Ortolanadi Fiumi. Her parents raised her and her sisters in a strict, almost cloistered environment until they were of marriageable age.

Inspired by St. Francis' Lenten sermon

When Clare was eighteen (or about nineteen), St. Francis of Assisi preached a Lenten sermon at the church where her family went to Mass. The sermon of Francis had such a profound effect on Clare that she sought the saint and asked him how she could live in the manner of the gospels. St. Francis spoke about leaving a worldly lifestyle and growing in greater love of God.

Decision to follow the way of St. Francis

On Palm Sunday night of 1212 A.D., Clare ran away from home and went to the town of Portiuncula where St. Francis and his community lived. It was here that she decided to consecrate herself to the Lord. So, at the chapel of Our Lady, St. Francis led Clare to the altar, where he cut off her hair. St. Clare then exchanged her rich clothes for a penitential habit. It was at this very moment that the Order of Poor Clares, of which St. Clare would be the foundress, was conceived.

A sister also joining St. Clare

Since St. Francis did not yet have a convent for women, he placed St. Clare in the Benedictine convent of St. Paul near Bastia. When St. Clare's family came to take her back home, she expressed her determination and her absolute devotion to Christ. St. Francis then moved St. Clare to the convent of Sant' Angelo di Panzo, where she was also joined by her sister Agnes, who was fifteen, and who also received the habit from St. Francis. Faverone, the two sisters' father, sent armed men to bring Agnes back, but St. Clare's prayers prevented them, and so Agnes remained.

Many more members joined the community

Eventually, St. Francis established a convent next to the church of San Damiano where he made St. Clare the superior (and the leader of the convent for forty years). The Poor clares were finally founded, and St. Clare was soon joined by her mother, another sister, Beatrice, three members of the famous Ubaldini family of Florence, and many others.

The Poor Clares life similar to their brothers

The community practised a life of extreme poverty and austerities, similar to their Franciscan brothers. According to St. Clare's wishes, they were not to own property, either in common or individually, and were to rely only from the daily almsgiving for their sustenance. The Poor Clares prayed constantly, and kept a cloister-like existence. It has been said that St. Clare never left the walls of San Damiano.

Noted to have been spiritually gifted

St. Clare was given many gifts by God. She performed many miracles. Even when she became an invalid for the last third of her life, stories of miraculous cures were still attributed to her prayers. In 1241 A.D., her prayers were said to save Assisi from the besieging soldiers of Emperor Frederick II. Their convent and Assisi itself was spared because of St. Clare's miraculous intercession. Her prayers lifted the siege and the soldiers left without doing any damage.

The influence of St. Clare and her community

The Poor Clares fluorished and spread to other parts of Italy, and also to France and Germany. St. Clare's spiritual influence became such that she was consulted by popes, cardinals, and bishops. Next to St. Francis, she was most responsible for the growth and spread of Franciscan spirituality. She died at Assisi on August 11, and was canonized two years later in 1255 A.D. She was made the patroness of television. The Church celebrates her feast on August 11.

  • A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press Inc.
  • Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
  • Saints for Our Times, by Ed Ransom

Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 (from 21st Sunday of the Year - C)

Sunday Readings for your Reflection: Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)

21st Sunday of the Year (C), August 25, 2013

Liturgical readings
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalm 117
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30

"That your halting limbs may not be dislocated but healed."


You have forgotten the encouraging words
addressed to you as sons:


"My sons,
do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
nor lose heart when he reproves you;


For,
whom the Lord loves,
he disciplines;


he scourges every son he receives.


Endure your trials as the discipline of God
who deals with you as sons.


For what son is there
whom his father does not discipline?


At the time it is administered,
all discipline seems a cause for grief
and not for joy,


but later it brings forth
the fruit of peace and justice
to those who are trained in its school.


So
strengthen your drooping hands
and your weak knees.


Make straight the paths you walk on,


that your halting limbs
may not be dislocated but healed."




Scripture verses from the readings:
"You shall come and see the glory of the Lord." (Isaiah 66)
"For steadfast is the Lord's kindness toward us." (Psalm 117)
"Endure your trials as the discipline of God." (Hebrews 12)
"Some who are last will be first and some who are first will be last." (Luke 18)


Isaiah 66:18-21 (from 21st Sunday of the Year - C)

Sunday Readings for your Reflection: Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)

21st Sunday of the Year (C), August 25, 2013

Liturgical readings
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalm 117
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30

"The Lord has come to gather nations of every language."



"I come to gather nations of every language;


they shall come and see my glory.


I will set a sign among them;


from them I will send
        fugitives to the nations;
            to Tarshish
            Put and Lud,
            Mosoch,
            Tubal and Javan,
        to the distant coastlands
        that have never heard of my fame,
        or seen my glory;


and they shall proclaim my glory
        among the nations.

They shall bring all your brethren
        from all the nations
        as an offering to the Lord,
            on horses and in chariots,
            in carts,
            upon mules and dromedaries,


to Jerusalem my holy mountain,"


says the Lord,


"just as the Israelites bring their offering
to the house of the Lord in clean vessels.


Some of these I will take as priests and Levites,"


says the Lord.




Scripture verses from the readings:
"You shall come and see the glory of the Lord." (Isaiah 66)
"For steadfast is the Lord's kindness toward us." (Psalm 117)
"Endure your trials as the discipline of God." (Hebrews 12)
"Some who are last will be first and some who are first will be last." (Luke 18)