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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