Feast of St. Clare of Assisi
St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi began a radically new movement for the Church of the 1200's and their spirit vibrantly illumines the world of our day.
St. Clare (1194-1253), a young woman from a wealthy family in Assisi, was inspired by Francis as she saw and heard of his radical way of life that was stirring up the status quo and causing talk and ridicule from the townspeople. She secretly met with Francis and told him of her desire to join him. On Palm Sunday night, she escaped from a side door in her home and ran to meet Francis and his small band of brothers at the chapel of the Portiuncula of St. Mary of the Angels. There, Francis cut her hair, clothed her with a rough fabric, and welcomed her to a life of poverty and simplicity. Soon after, Francis arranged for Clare and the other women who immediately followed her example, to live at San Damiano, the original church he repaired.
Thus began the story of a man and a woman on fire with the call to poverty, and whose only desire was to follow the radical call they were given by God.
He Christ is the splendor of eternal glory, "the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without cloud."
Behold, I say, the birth of this mirror. Behold Christ's poverty even as he was laid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility, what marvelous poverty! The King of angels, the Lord of heaven and earth resting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his humility, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he endured to redeem the human race. Then, in the depths of this very mirror, ponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the cross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself, from his position on the cross, warned passers-by to weigh carefully this act, as he said: "All of you who pass by this way, behold and see if there is any sorrow like mine." Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: "I will be mindful and remember, and my soul will be consumed within me."
from a letter to Agnes of Prague by St. Clare
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