St. Clare

Leaving Home for Gospel Poverty

St. Clare was born in 1194 in Assisi, Italy, to the noble Offreduccio family. As a young woman she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach and resolved to follow his way of Gospel poverty. On the night of Palm Sunday in 1212 she slipped away from her family home, and at the little chapel of the Portiuncula Francis cut her hair and clothed her in a rough habit. Her family tried to bring her back by force; she refused, and was soon joined by her sister Agnes and, in time, by her widowed mother.

Abbess of San Damiano and Her Rule

Clare settled at the church of San Damiano outside Assisi, where she led the community that became known as the Poor Ladies — after her death, the Poor Clares. For more than forty years she guided the monastery, living a hidden life of prayer, manual work, and care for her sisters, whom she served personally even during her own long illnesses. She fought tenaciously for the "Privilege of Poverty," the right of her community to live entirely without property or fixed incomes, trusting in Providence alone. The rule of life she wrote — the first monastic rule known to have been composed by a woman — received papal approval on August 9, 1253, two days before her death.

The Eucharist and the Mirror of Christ

Her spirituality was radiant and deeply Eucharistic. According to tradition, when Saracen mercenaries threatened San Damiano in 1240, Clare, though ill, had herself carried to the wall bearing the Blessed Sacrament, and the attackers withdrew. Her surviving letters, especially those to St. Agnes of Prague, reveal a soul of great tenderness fixed on the poor and crucified Christ, whom she called her mirror.

Death, Canonization, and Patroness of Television

Clare died at San Damiano on August 11, 1253, and was canonized just two years later, in 1255, by Pope Alexander IV. Her remains rest in the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Assisi, a major stop for pilgrims to the city of St. Francis. In 1958 Pope Pius XII declared her patroness of television, recalling the account that, too ill to attend Christmas Mass, she saw and heard the liturgy as if present. Her feast is celebrated on August 11.

Significance

Clare showed that following the poor Christ could be lived with complete seriousness by women in an enclosed community, and she fought to protect that poverty in the rule she wrote herself. Her trust in Providence, her love for the Eucharist, and her tender service to her sisters still inspire the Poor Clares and all who long for a simpler life. She invites believers to keep their gaze fixed on the crucified Lord as the mirror of their own lives.