St Clare of Assisi-11th August

Clare of Assisi was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honour as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares (Clarissines).

Having refused to marry at 15, Clare was moved by the dynamic preaching of Francis. She left her father’s home and went to meet with Francis. While there, Clare’s hair was cut off and she was given a plain robe and veil in exchange for her rich gown. On March 18, 1212, Francis received her vows, and thus began the Second Order of St. Francis. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity, and complete seclusion from the world. The Poor Ladies went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat, and observed almost complete silence. Yet, they were very happy, because Our Lord was close to them all the time. In 1224, an army of rough soldiers from Frederick II came to attack Assisi. Although very sick, Clare went out to meet them with the Blessed Sacrament on her hands. Then on her knees, she begged God to save the Sisters. A voice seemed to answer: “I will keep them always in My care.” In that moment, a sudden fright struck the attackers and they fled as fast as they could without harming anyone in Assisi.

She was canonized in1255, by Pope Alexander IV. St. Clare was designated as the patron saint of television in 1958 by Pope Pius XII, because when St. Clare was very ill, she could not attend mass and was reportedly able to see and hear it on the wall in her room. She is also the patroness of eye disease, goldsmiths, and laundry.

0811 St Clare of Assisi 1p SMC 8.5 x 11 R1R 20240517

Powerful Prayer to Saint Clare of Assisi

O glorious Saint Clare!
God has given you the power of working miracles continually,
and the favor of answering the prayers of those who invoke your assistance in misfortune, anxiety, and distress;
we beseech you, obtain for us from Jesus, through Mary, His Blessed Mother,
what we beg of you so fervently and hopefully,
if it be for the greater honor and glory of God and for the good of our souls. Amen.
Saint Clare of Assisi, Pray For Us

POWERFUL PRAYER TO SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI

O Blessed Saint Clare, your life shines like a beacon and cast its light down the ages of the Church to guide the way of Christ.

Look with compassion on the poor and humble who call on you for help. As you bow before your Eucharistic Lord in Heaven, speak to Him of my afflicted body and my broken spirit. Ask Him to heal me and to wash away my sins in His precious Blood.

Great Servant of Christ, remember the needs of my family and all those I pray for. Defend us from everything that would threaten our Holy Catholic faith.

Hear the cry of the poor and make it a song of intercession, rising from your poor heart to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, our Healer, our Savior, and our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer

I look up and I behold the Lord,
Clare says to me, “Gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him,
I put this more simply:
behold, hold, enfold.

I behold the Lord
I see His outstretched hands
I see the blood from His wounds.
I see the love in the eyes of Jesus.
I see His gracious acceptance of me.

Jesus has come out of the tomb –
He still has the scars, but now they are glorious, with the glory of heaven.
Still looking at the Lord, I reach out and touch Him.
I hold the Lord – and I am held in His love.

Love enfolds
It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.
I am secure in the Lord.
I can look out, now, through the Lord’s eyes.
I can see the world as He created it, in His mercy,
I can see my sisters and brothers with His love,
and I can worship the Father through the eyes of the Son
in the Love of the Holy Spirit.

August 11 Saint Clare of Assisi

Clare’s father was a count, her mother the countess Blessed Orsolana. Her father died when the girl was very young. After hearing Saint Francis of Assisi preach in the streets, Clare confided to him her desire to live for God, and the two became close friends. On Palm Sunday in 1212, her bishop presented Clare with a palm, which she apparently took as a sign. With her cousin Pacifica, Clare ran away from her mother’s palace during the night to enter religious life. She eventually took the veil from Saint Francis at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy.

Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) at San Damiano, and led it for 40 years. Everywhere the Franciscans established themselves throughout Europe, there also went the Poor Clares, depending solely on alms, forced to have complete faith on God to provide through people; this lack of land-based revenues was a new idea at the time. Clare’s mother and sisters later joined the order, and there are still thousands of members living lives of silence and prayer.

Clare loved music and well-composed sermons. She was humble, merciful, charming, optimistic, chivalrous, and every day she meditated on the Passion of Jesus. She would get up late at night to tuck in her sisters who’d kicked off their blankets. When she learned of the Franciscan martyrs in Morrocco in 1221, she tried to go there to give her own life for God, but was restrained. Once when her convent was about to be attacked, she displayed the Sacrament in a monstrace at the convent gates, and prayed before it; the attackers left, the house was saved, and the image of her holding a monstrance became one of her emblems. Her patronage of eyes and against their problems may have developed from her name which has overtones from clearness, brightness, brilliance – like healthy eyes.

Toward the end of her life, when she was too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of her cell; thus her patronage of television. She was ever the close friend and spiritual student of Francis, who apparently led her soul into the light at her death.

Born 16 July 1194 at Assisi, Italy

Died 11 August 1253 of natural causes

Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me. – Saint Clare of Assisi

O wondrous blessed clarity of Clare!

In life she shone to a few;

after death she shines on the whole world!

On earth she was a clear light;

Now in heaven she is a brilliant sun.

O how great the vehemence of the

brilliance of this clarity!

On earth this light was indeed kept

within cloistered walls,

yet shed abroad its shining rays;

It was confined within a convent cell,

yet spread itself through the wide world.