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
