Clare
of Assisi
Early
Life
Clare, which means "light", was so named by her
mother, Ortulana, because of a prophetic experience she had
before the birth of her second child. While praying
for a safe delivery at a nearby Church, Ortulana heard a
voice which said, "...You will joyfully bring forth a
light which will illumine the world." Indeed,
this prophecy was to be recalled after Clare's death when
her cause for canonization was being considered.
Born in Assisi in 1193, Clare was
influenced by the piety of her mother, Ortulana. A
religious child from her youth, Clare was given to prayer
and care for the poor. She often saved food from the
table to distribute to the poor outside the doors of her
home. Though raised among the nobility, she cared
little for the social life which surrounded her, for she had
decided to dedicate her life to God.
Clare's father, Favorone, a wealthy
noble, expected her to marry the son of another noble.
However, she was determined to follow what she believed was
a calling from God, a life focused on the gospel and prayer.
Clare
and Francis
Francis, the son of the merchant Bernadone, attracted the
attention of Clare because of his preaching and style of
life. She probably heard him preach in the Cathedral
of San Rufino which was next to her family's castle.
Both Francis' words and his gospel way of life spoke to
Clare in the depths of her heart. This is what she
wanted to do with her life: to join the followers of
Francis.
Francis himself had a premonition while
he was rebuilding the small church of San Damiano: a voice
told him a group of holy women would live in that place.
Thus, recognizing in Clare a kindred spirit, he
"tutored" her in his way of life.
The
Poor Ladies
In a secret and dramatic flight, Clare left her family home
late at night on Palm Sunday, 1212, accompanied by her
cousin and collaborator, Bona, to enact her desire. At
the small chapel of Our Lady of the Angels she was received
by Francis and a group of Friars Minor. Clare's long
hair was cut and she exchanged her Palm Sunday finery for a
rough gray habit. In this symbolic gesture the seed
was planted for the beginning of a new Order in the history
of the Church, one different from any other of that period.
After a short time with the Benedictine
sisters in Bastia, Clare moved to San Damiano with Agnes,
her sister, who had then joined her. Here she was to
spend the remainder of her life. Clare and Agnes were
soon joined by many other women of Assisi, eager as they
were to live the feminine dimension of the gospel life of
poverty, chastity and obedience that Francis inspired.
Although Francis and his followers were itinerant preachers,
Clare and her sisters witnessed the gospel in a different
way; they remained at San Damiano, living a life of prayer
and penance. They became the wholly contemplative
branch of the Franciscan Order.
Even during her lifetime Clare witnessed
a rapid growth of monasteries of Poor Ladies, as they called
themselves. By the time of her death in 1253 there
were abut 40 groups of these women in Italy and another 60
scattered throughout Europe. Today, after 800 years,
there are Poor Clare monasteries in some 67 countries in the
world where women are living the gospel way of life Clare
embraced.
Clare became a light, not only for the
Church of the 12th century. Her holiness, already
recognized in her lifetime, was proclaimed throughout the
Church just two years after her death on August 12, 1253.
During her canonization process many of her own sisters as
well as residents of Assisi who had come to know Clare,
testified to her holiness. In the Bull of
canonization,
Pope
Innocent !V declared:
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.
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