Saint Clare of Assisi: Led by the Lord

From out of the shadow of Saint Francis of Assisi beginning in the 1990s and early 2000s Saint Clare emerged as a distinctly necessary person in the renewal of the Franciscan charism today.

The works which were and are yet still helpful to me are those of Sr. Margaret Carney, OSF, Fr. Regis Armstrong, OFM Cap, Dr. Jean- Francois Gaudet-Calegoras, Sr. Frances Theresa Dowling, OSC and in translation Marco Bartoli and Maria Pia Alberzoni . Today there are many more and equally excellent resources, but the above cited helped me begin my journey with the Lady Clare.

Francis, of course, would be a definite person in the life and conversion of Clare

Clare's self-description was as "Francis' little plant." After receiving the tonsure and the habit, she identified as "a lesser brother,” and that role she lived all of her life.

We must know and accept that the Church played a significant role in her vocation. After Francis "preached to her," she pursued a life of holiness as a mendicant Franciscan. After a short period of time in other places she and her sister, Agnes, settled in the Church of San Damiano.

It was probably Bishop Guido II who told her (after the IV Lateran Council) that she would be called abbess for this new community. As the Church began to understand this new way of monastic life and its value structure—and after Francis himself asked for a cardinal protector for his brothers—it is evident that the cardinal himself extended his protection to the Poor Sisters of San Damiano.

Years of Struggle

There were many struggles with the Church about how the Clarian life would develop, both in the new monasteries established by Clare or reformed by her sister, Agnes, and those affixed to San Damiano by their cardinal-protector. Then there would be the encouragement and development of a monastery in Bohemia by the Imperial Princess Agnes. Just one example will demonstrate the instruction which Agnes was given.

"In all of this, follow the counsel of our venerable father, our Brother Elias, the Minister General, that you may walk more securely in the way of the commands of the Lord. Prize it beyond the advice of the others and cherish it as dearer than any gift. If anyone has said anything else to you or suggested any other thing to you that might hinder your perfection or that would seem contrary to your divine vocation, even though you must respect him, do not follow his counsel" (Second letter to Agnes 15-18).

These are a few examples of how Clare and her sisters lived their lives. Francis told his brothers and sisters to follow the footprints and the poverty of Jesus Christ.

At one point Clare was sidetracked when she began to imitate Francis, especially in his fasting. In fact, this was a major cause of the harm done to her life. It took an obedience from Bishop Guido II to require the amount of food and wine she would consume daily. This is told in her canonization process.

Another example of their life is taken from the Rule of St. Benedict. In his rule, it is stated that a novice is assigned to greet a visitor to the monastery and wash the individual visitor's feet. Clare took that on herself. She would greet any of the begging sisters who returned to San Damiano and would both wash their feet and kiss their feet.

Despite the attempts by the Church to establish financial security for San Damiano, there can be found even today on the lectern of San Damiano a document with which the sisters sell to another a property which they did not need. Sister Margaret Carney has pointed out that the signature of the abbess would be enough to validate the sale transaction. In this case every sister in the community signed the document.

In Her Own Light

There are very few writings attributed to Clare. In her Testament, at the end of her life, she wrote "Among all the other gifts which we have received and continue to receive daily...our vocation is a great gift."

She also wrote, "The Son of God has become for us the Way that our blessed father Francis, his true lover and imitator, has shown us and taught us by word and example. When the blessed Francis saw, however, that although we were physically weak and frail, we did not shirk deprivation,e pu poverty, hard work...he bound himself, both personally and through his religion, always to have the same loving care and special solicitude for us as for his brothers" (Testament vs 27- 29).

Clare lived at San Damiano for 41 years, 27 of which were after Francis passed away. How many times did the words of the Blessed Mother in Cana pass through her mind: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5)?

Clare came out of Francis' shadow, as his little plant, who indeed followed Jesus Christ's footprints and his poverty. Among Francis' parting words to his brothers (and sisters): "I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours to do."

Led by the Lord, she became the foundress of another form of Franciscan life and a developer of a charism that is as vibrant today as it has ever been.

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