Let's see what we can copy over to this blog page:
A quote and prayer of St. Clare, along with Big Sister's commentary.
"I
beg you, therefore, dearly beloved, to refrain wisely and
prudently from an indiscreet and impossible austerity in the
fasting that you have undertaken. And I beg you in the Lord to
praise the Lord by your very life, to offer the Lord your
reasonable service and your sacrifice always seasoned with salt.”
A
letter St. Clare wrote to her sister, Agnes.
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austerity-
to do something without distraction and to try your hardest,
Spartan, cold and plain
refrain-
to NOT do something
seasoned
with salt- “the spice of life”, bringing out the flavor,
expressing your unique talents
Saint Clare is saying: Your
life is special and you shouldn't serve God in a cold and plain
manner. Bring out the things that are unique to you in serving
God.
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God
of Mercy, You inspired Saint Clare with the love of poverty.
By the help of her prayers, may we follow Christ in poverty
of spirit and come to the joyful vision of your glory in the
kingdom of heaven. We ask this
through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen |
God
inspired St. Clare to be kind to others, and to love poverty, and
we are asking God to help us do the same.
Love of poverty means to love simplicity and humility. Jesus said, “Learn of me for I am humble and meek of heart.” When we have these things we can discover God in a better sense. 
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Clare and
Agnes, originally known as Catherine, were sisters.
Three days
after Clare became a nun, Agnes followed in her footsteps, joining
the Benedictines. Agnes' father attacked the monastery to get his
two daughters back. But Clare prayed to God and they were spared.
Saint Frances changed Catherine's name to Agnes, because she
nearly died in the attack and Francis said that made her like a
martyr of Christ. Agnes means pure, holy, chaste and sacred.
Later, Saint Francis moved the sisters
to San Damiano, where friends like Sister Pacifica and others
joined them. This convent became known as the order of Poor
Clares.
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Saint
Clare of Assisi was born July 16th,
1194 to Favorino and Ortolana Scifi. She lived her whole life in
assisi, until her death in 1253.
When
Clare turned 18, her parents wanted her to marry. Clare listened
to Francis preach and on Palm Sunday she followed Francis to his
monastery. Clare was known for her beauty and her luxurious golden
hair. But she cut it off and became a sister at a Benedictine
monastery.
Her final words were:
"Go
calmly in peace, for you will have a good escort, because He who
created you has sent you the Holy Spirit and has always guarded
you as a mother does her child who loves her. O Lord, may You Who
have created me, be blessed"
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There was once a savage wolf in Assisi that could not be tamed. Once, a mother, who had two children,
was working in the fields when the wolf snatched one of her children and ate him. A few days later, the
wolf returned and snatched the second child. This time, the woman heard the child cry, and chased after
the wolf.
“Glorious virgin Saint Clare, save my child!” She shouted.
When the woman reached her child, she found an injured dog laying next to her child. Saint Clare had
sent the dog to fight the wolf, causing it to drop the child. The woman thanked Saint Clare for sparing
her child, and returned home.
This picture was painted by Giovanni Di Paulo
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| St. Benedict and St. Francis were two key people in St. Clare's life. Francis inspired Clare to become a nun and serve god. When she became the abbess of San Damiano, St. Clare chose to follow the Rules of St. Benedict more closely than St. Francis' stricter rules. |
A schedule of one modern day Poor Clares order.
| 5:00 | Wake-up time - Let us Praise the Lord! |
| 6:00 | Eucharistic Adoration followed by Office of Readings |
| 7:00 | Breakfast |
| 7:40 | Morning Prayer |
| 8:30 | Mass |
| 9:30 | Individual Work, Prayer and Study Time |
| 12:15 | Mid-day Prayer |
| 1:00 | Dinner - our main meal for the day |
| 2:00 | Dishes and Clean-up |
| 3:00 | Individual Work, Prayer and Study Time |
| 5:00 | Evening Prayer |
| 6:15 | Supper - with the Evening News on TV |
| 8:00 | Night Prayer |
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The Rule of St. Clare, copied in the Irish language, 1636
The Rules, simplified by Big Sister
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Thomas of Celano was a Franciscan friar who
lived during St. Francis and St. Clare's time. He wrote several
books about them. His works are important because he witnessed
some of the stories or heard them from brothers and sisters who
served with Francis and Clare.
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A
history by Thomas de Celano
“By imperial order, regiments of Saracen soldiers and bowmen were stationed there (the convent of San
Damiano
in Assisi, Italy), massed like bees,
ready
to devastate the encampments and seize
the
cities. Once, during an enemy attack
against
Assisi, city beloved of the Lord, and
while
the army was approaching the gates,
the
fierce Saracens invaded San Damiano,
entered
the confines of the monastery and
even
the very cloister of the virgins. The
women
swooned in terror, their voices trembling
with
fear as they cried to their Mother,
Saint
Clare.
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Saint
Clare,
with
a fearless heart, commanded them to lead her, sick as she was, to
the enemy, preceded by a silver and ivory case in which the Body
of the Saint of saints was kept with great devotion. And
prostrating
herself
before the Lord, she spoke tearfully to
her
Christ: ‘Behold, my Lord, is it possible You
want
to deliver into the hands of pagans Your
defenseless
handmaids, whom I have taught out
of
love for You? I pray You, Lord, protect these
Your
handmaids whom I cannot now save by
myself.’
Suddenly a voice like that of a child
resounded
in her ears from the tabernacle: ‘I
will
always protect you!’ ‘My
Lord,’ she added, ‘if
it
is Your wish, protect also this city which is
sustained
by Your love.’
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Christ
replied,
‘It
willhave to undergo trials, but it will be defended by My
protection.’ Then
the virgin, raising a face bathed in tears, comforted the sisters:
‘I assure
you,
daughters, that you will suffer no evil; only
have
faith in Christ.’ Upon seeing the courage of
the
sisters, the Saracens took flight and fled back
over
the walls they had scaled, unnerved by the
strength
of she who prayed. And Clare immediately
admonished
those who heard the voice I spoke of
above,
telling them severely: ‘Take care not to tell
anyone
about that voice while I am still alive,
dearest
daughters.’”
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Interior of San Damiano
San Damiano was built in 1030 by a small group of Benedictine monks. Soon after it was built, the monks abandoned it, and San Damiano fell to ruins. Two hundred years later in 1205, Francesco was praying before the cross at San Damiano when he heard a voice say, “Rebuild my church.” Francesco rebuilt San Damiano and founded the Franciscan Order. In 1212, Saint Clare founded her Poor Clares there, where she lived the rest of her life as Abbess.
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| Pelican of Mercy The Pelican is a symbol of the atonement and was believed to wound itself in order to feed its young with its own blood.
Poor
Clares
live a cloistered life. This means that they can never leave the
monastery ground unless on a special mission. Poor Clares are not
allowed any earthly goods. All they have are their clothes and, if
they are lucky, a garden. The portress is the only sister who is
allowed to speak with visitors. If a sister wishes to see a family
member, she must remain behind a grate with three other sisters
present. Being cloistered is the Poor Clares' way to not be
distracted by anything more than what they need, so they can focus
more on God.
There were several pictures of cloistered Poor Clares that won't copy over to the blog. Neat images!
My
Visit to the Poor Clares
While
visiting some friends in Wisconsin, my family had a unique
opportunity to visit a Poor Clares monastery in Rockford, Illinois.
We had driven past the large stone building several times before, but
it wasn't until that trip that we realized they were Poor Clares. We
pulled into the driveway and by chance met up with their portress,
Sister Bridget. She offered to give us a tour and pointed us in the
direction of the entryway.
We
walked through the wooden double doors into a small room. We walked
foreword to a second door and waited for Sister Bridget. There were
grilles and wooden shutters on all the windows. When Sister Bridget
arrived, she gave us a small book about Saint Clare. She led us to
the chapel where we spent most of our time.
The
chapel was beautifully decorated with mosaics and stained glass
windows. The monstrance was high up on the rear altar. There was a
window behind it leading into another room, probably the dining room,
so the sisters could see the Eucharist while they were working. The
stained glass windows displayed beautifully crafted scenes from the
Bible and St. Clare's life. There were two bas
reliefs against the side walls. One depicted St. Clare's body, the
second, St.Colette.
St. Colette was a Poor Clare who
lived several hundred years after Clare's death. The Poor Clares of
her time were straying from the Rules, so St. Colette rewrote them.
Her order is known as the Colettine Poor Clares.
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