Saint Clare of Assisi Simone Martini 047.jpg Detail depicting Saint Clare from a fresco (1312–20) by Simone Martini in the Lower basilica of San Francesco, Assisi Virgin Born July 16, 1194 Assisi Died August 11, 1253 (aged 59) Assisi Honored in Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church Canonized September 26, 1255, Rome by Pope Alexander IV Major shrine Basilica of Saint Clare, Assisi Feast August 11, August 12 (1255–1969) Attributes Monstrance, pyx, lamp, habit of the Poor Clares Patronage Eye disease, goldsmiths, laundry, embroiderers, gilders, good weather, needleworkers, Santa Clara Pueblo, telephones, telegraphs, television St. Clare was born in Assisi, the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Ortolana was a very devout woman who had undertaken pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela and the Holy Land. Later on in her life, Ortolana entered Clares monastery, together with Agnes and Beatrix, Clares sisters.[1] As a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. When she turned 12 years old her parents wanted her to marry a young and wealthy man, but she preferred to wait until she was 18. However, at the age of 18 she heard Franciss preachings which would subsequently change her life. Francis told her that she was chosen by God. Soon after, on Palm Sunday, when people went to collect palm branches, she stayed home. That night she ran away to follow Francis. Francis cut her hair and dressed her in a black tunic and a thick black veil. Clare was placed in the convent of the Benedictine nuns near Bastia from where her father made several unsuccessful attempts to abduct her, still wanting her to get married. Clare, joined by her sister Agnes, soon moved in a place close to the church of San Damiano, which Francis had rebuilt. Other women joined them and San Damiano became known for its radical austere lifestyle. The women were at first known as the Poor Ladies. San Damiano became the centre of Clares new religious order, which was known in her lifetime as the Order of San Damiano. San Damiano was long thought to be the first house of this order, however, recent scholarship strongly suggests that San Damiano actually joined an existing network of womens religious houses organized by Hugolino (who later became Pope Gregory IX). Hugolino wanted San Damiano as part of the order he founded because of the prestige of Clares monastery.[2] San Damiano emerged as the most important house in the order, and Clare became its undisputed leader. By 1263, just ten years after Clares death, the order had become known as the Order of Saint Clare. Unlike the Franciscan friars, whose members moved around the country to preach, Saint Clares sisters lived in enclosure, since an itinerant life was hardly conceivable at the time for women. Their life consisted of manual labour[3] and prayer. For a short period the order was directed by Francis himself.[4] Then in 1216, Clare accepted the role of abbess of San Damiano. As abbess, Clare had more authority to lead the order than when she was the prioress, who had to follow the orders of a priest heading the community.[5] Clare defended her order from the attempts of prelates to impose a rule on them that more closely resembled the Rule of Saint Benedict than Francis stricter vows. Clare sought to imitate Francis virtues and way of life so much so that she was sometimes titled alter Franciscus, another Francis.[6] She also played a significant role in encouraging and aiding Francis, whom she saw as a spiritual father figure, and she took care of him during his illnesses at the end of his life, until his death in 1226. After Franciss death, Clare continued to promote the growth of her order, writing letters to abbesses in other parts of Europe and thwarting every attempt by each successive pope to impose a rule on her order which watered down the radical commitment to corporate poverty she had originally embraced. She did this despite enduring a long period of poor health until her death. Clares Franciscan theology of joyous poverty in imitation of Christ is evident in the rule she wrote for her community and in her four letters to Agnes of Prague.On August 9, 1253, the papal bull Solet annuere of Pope Innocent IV confirmed that Clares rule would serve as the governing rule for Clares Order of Poor Ladies. Two days later, on August 11, Clare died at the age of 59. Her remains were interred at the chapel of San Giorgio while a church to hold her remains was being constructed. On August 15, 1255, Pope Alexander IV canonized Clare as Saint Clare of Assisi. Construction of the Basilica of Saint Clare was completed in 1260, and on October 3 of that year Clares remains were transferred to the newly completed basilica where they were buried beneath the high altar. In further recognition of the saint, Pope Urban IV officially changed the name of the Order of Poor Ladies to the Order of Saint Clare in 1263. Some 600 years later in 1872, Saint Clares remains were transferred to a newly constructed shrine in the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Clare where they can still be seen today.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 16:00:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015