Against her objections, Francis made Clare abbess of her order in 1215, and she is believed never to have left the San Damiano abbey for the 40 years between then and her death. She moved to the convent of Benedictine nuns in San Paulo, located near Bastia. Sources. Her father was furious when he came to know about this. How could she care for her sisters when they had absolutely no security or protection? Not the least important part of Clare’s work was the help and encouragement she gave to her spiritual father, Francis. The day following her death was set as the feast day for her followers. "The foundress recommended this holy silence as the means to avoid innumerable sins of the tongue," noted Butler's Lives of the Saints, "and to preserve the mind always recollected in God and free from the dissipation of the world which, without this guard, penetrates even the walls of cloisters. Copyright 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. It followed a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, which counseled, according to Butler's Lives of the Saints, "Freely have you received, freely give… . She was also devoted to the ‘Blessed Sacrament.’ Many women in her family, including her sisters, her aunt, and her mother, had joined the order and had vowed to serve Jesus Christ. A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. He could know his Father’s will, receive his love, and bring his life to others. He also wanted to become a hermit later in his life, but it was Clare who inspired him to stick to the path of God and carry on spreading the message of the Divine. Clare of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253), born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint. The Busy Person's Guide To An Extraordinary Life. Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV, Robert Appleton Company, 1908, Online Edition, 2002. Her father was Favorino Scifi, count of Sasso-Rosso, and her mother Ortolana also hailed from an aristocratic lineage. She also fought with the pope’s order of weakening it by merging it with other orders, as that would have taken away the vow of “extreme poverty.”. Permit me, Divine Jesus, to come closer to Thee, that my whole soul may do homage to the greatness of Thy majesty; that my heart, with its tenderest affections, may acknowledge Thine infinite love; that my memory may dwell on the admirable mysteries here renewed every day, and that the sacrifice of my whole being may accompany Thine. Not only family members, but even bishops and popes warned Clare that she was being too idealistic, that the gospel’s demands shouldn’t be taken so literally. She loved to pray and to do holy things for him. Growing within her was a desire to be united with no man, so that she could be united more fully with Jesus, whose love far surpassed any other love she could know. Sometime later, her little sisters, Catarina and Beatrix, too, joined her. Francis too had heard about Clare’s courageous acts of charity and her love for the Lord. She was later sent to the church of ‘San Damiano’ in Assisi, Italy. She was the oldest child in her family. Learn facts about Clare of Assisi for kids. …at Assisi in 1212 by St. Clare, who was under the guidance of St. Francis. As a little girl she was known by members of her household to be a sensitive child, gentle, prayerful and kind. Clare went often to Francis, to hear him preach, to seek his advice, and to pray with him. Meaning of name Saint Clare of Assisi Patron Saint: bright, clear, brilliant. Instead of joining the queue to receive the palm leaf—an act that recalled a biblical incident in which Christ entered Jerusalem and to welcome him, believers cut boughs from trees and tossed them in his path— Clare remained in prayer, and the bishop then reportedly went to her and placed a palm in her hand. The “Poor Ladies,” as they became known, lived in utter simplicity, owning absolutely nothing, so that they could rely on God to provide for them as he had promised he would. Twelve years her senior, Francis hailed from a well-to-do cloth merchant family, but a stint in the army and a year as a prisoner of war in Perugia caused a religious awakening, and he became an ascetic. Pope Alexander IV canonized her on September 26, 1255. She was extremely moved by his sermon, so she ran away to join him. Her father was Favorino Scifi, count of Sasso-Rosso, and her mother Ortolana also hailed from an aristocratic lineage. Learn about St. Clare of Assisi the patron saint of those with eye disease, embroiderers, laundry workers, needle workers, telephones, and television. Saint Clare of Assisi was born into a wealthy Italian family but soon shunned her luxurious upbringing to embrace the life of piety and poverty. Clare's relatives found out where she was staying, but when they arrived to take her back home, she clung to the altar saying she would only wed Christ. Comparatively little is known of St. Clare’s life in the cloister. However, she denied the offer. Clare was ill in bed but reportedly rose and went to the window with a ciborium, a chalice-like vessel that was used at the time to house the Eucharist. She was placed by Francis temporarily with the Benedictine nuns of San Palos near Bastia, then to San Angelo in Panzo until finally to San Damiano, which Francis had rebuilt with his own hands.Thus was founded the first community of the Order of Poor Ladies or Poor Clares. Growing up, Clare lived at both her family's villa in Assisi and a castle on the mountainside of Mount Subasio. Blessed be thou, O God, for having created me.". She was a revered figure in Assisi, and reports that she was near death caused Pope Innocent IV to visit her on her deathbed. Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! As a result of her imitation of Christ, Clare began to reflect his attributes in greater measure--at times with astonishing results. After hearing a young man (St. Francis) preach, she became determined to live the gospel in a more radical way. She was also one of the most beautiful young women of Assisi. Later, when she was 21, she was moved to another convent next to the San Damiano church, where she was appointed the superior for 40 years. When she was staying in another monastery in Panzo, she was reunited with her younger sister, Agnes. As abbess, she was known for the rigors of her penance and often fasted so drastically that she became sick; during the forty days of Lent, for example, she took only bread and water. This Sacrament really contains You, O my God, You whom the angels adore, in whose presence the spirits and mighty powers tremble. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simone_Martini_047.jpg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RG7S6hDY8. As I hope in Thee, O Lord, inspire me with that confidence which brings me to Thy holy mountain. We know that she became a living example of the poverty, humility and the mortification expounded by St. Francis. The beginning of her religious life was indeed movie material. Hugely inspired by him, she asked him to take her along with him. Destined to be the cofounders of one of the largest religious movements to embrace this world, Francis and Clare were born and raised in Assisi, Italy, in the twelfth century. They still live by the rule that she wrote, which stated that they live only by charity. There, Clare founded the “Order of Poor Ladies.”. Like Francis's Friars Minors order, her idea swiftly spread throughout Italy and beyond, and several other communities of Poor Clares were founded. Francis didn't have a place for women to stay, so he sent her to the Benedictine convent in San Paulo. One of these was Addai, who became Addal's successor. Because of this story, Clare is sometimes depicted holding this object in artistic representations. Clare died in 1253, just two days after she obtained from Pope Innocent IV the “Privilege of Poverty.” For almost forty years, she had fought with humble determination to secure the promise that her Poor Ladies would be free to live in radical poverty and simplicity, never seeking nor being forced to accept the protection of an institution, however holy or well-endowed. St. Clare of Assisi started praying regularly during her childhood. The story is told that in September of 1240, during a Saracen invasion of Assisi, some soldiers had begun to climb the walls of her convent, looking for the women. She also did a great job of providing encouragement to her spiritual father, Francis. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2020 Catholic Online. St. Clare of Assisi. From that moment she vowed to live her life entirely in the service of Jesus, her heavenly spouse. They then moved to the church of ‘San Damiano,’ which was repaired by St. Francis himself. As news of Clare’s decision spread, other women joined her, and a community of prayer and service formed around her. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. They met Francis, as arranged, at a small chapel called Porziuncula that served as the spiritual home of his order, and Clare made her vows before him and accepted a rough brown tunic as her habit and a thick veil. As she read the gospels, Clare saw in Jesus the freedom and spontaneity of spirit that flowed from his poverty. Clare received quality education as a child. . Abgar's court was in Edessa in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). At first they had no written rule to follow except for a very short ‘formula vitae.’ Over the years prelates tried to draw up a rule for the Poor Ladies based largely on the Rule of St. Benedict, however, Clare would reject these attempts in favour of the ‘privilege of poverty’, wishing to own nothing in this world and depending entirely on the providence of God and the generosity of the people for their livelihood. Clare was born Chiara Offreduccio di Favaronne in Assisi, a hillside town in central Italy, in July of 1194. He went to her and asked her to come back to her house, but she refused. In the beginning, most of the young girls who joined her in this life of radical poverty were from the noble families of Assisi and the surrounding area. Clare is the patron saint of embroiderers, eye diseases, goldsmiths and gold workers, laundry workers, telephones, television, and television writers. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. On hearing of the threat, Clare threw herself before the Blessed Sacrament and cried out, “Does it please you, my Lord, to deliver into the hands of the pagans your defenseless handmaids whom I have nourished with your love? This was a life of extreme poverty, but many local young women, mainly from affluent families, joined the order.