Clare was born in Assisi, Italy in 1194 into a family of knights and nobles. At the age of eighteen, Clare became the first follower of Saint Francis when she left her home on Palm Sunday night in order to be consecrated as the handmaid of Christ. Saint Francis soon took her to San Damiano where she anchored her whole self for over forty years. Because she remained rooted in one place, she liked to call herself the LITTLE PLANT OF SAINT FRANCIS.

Saint Clare was the first woman in history to write a Rule. She took her form of life from Saint Francis who wanted to live the Gospel radically. She also chose to live with the privilege of poverty. She placed her security in the providence of the Father of Mercies and trusted He would take care of her through the goodness of the faithful. This has been proved true for over 800 years.

Clare also had a deep devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. When the Saracens attacked her monastery, she had herself led to the door with the Blessed Sacrament. She begged Jesus to protect her Sisters whom she was unable to protect. She heard the voice of our Lord promise: "I WILL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU." The Saracens fled in terror, and peace returned. As her daughters, we claim for ourselves this same promise of our Lord.

Clare had a supremely Marian Vocation. In her second letter to Saint Agnes of Prague, she wrote: "Therefore, as the glorious Virgin of virgins carried Christ materially in her Body, you too, by following in her footprints, especially those of poverty and humility, can, without any doubt, always carry Him spiritually in your chaste and virginal body." As Francis was called to imitate Jesus in a radical and total way, Clare was called to imitate Mary.

Clare had the heart of a missionary. Her mission like her heart had a universal scope. Totally surrendered to God, her 'mission field' became as wide and far and broad as that of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through the mysterious and radical limiting of her body to the cloister, her heart expanded so that her mission field became co-extensive with that of God Himself. Her apostolic 'work' was union with God and through Him her life was given a universal mission. This union was the source of her fruitfulness and apostolic zeal and became a leaven of holiness in the Church. What she wrote to Saint Agnes of Prague could be said to any of her daughters: "…I consider you a co-worker of God Himself and a support of the weak members of His ineffable Body."

As Clare lay dying, she blessed the Lord for creating her. She died on August 11, 1253, shortly after the pope visited her and approved her Rule. She was canonized two years later in 1255.

The name CLARE means light. As Clare was a radiant light in the dark thirteenth century, she continues to be a brilliant light for the people of God in the twenty-first century.

The Blessing of Saint Clare

May Almighty
God bless you.

May He look upon you
with the eyes of His mercy
and give you His peace.

May He pour forth
His graces on you abundantly
and in Heaven
may He place you
among His saints.

Amen.

Saint Clare's Way to Pray in order to become Prayer

Look upon Him who became
contemptible for you, and
follow Him, making yourself
contemptible in the world for
Him.