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For most people, love carries some sort of romantic connotation. Love, though, is much broader than that. A shining example of that is Clare’s love for Christ.
As a member of the noble class, St. Clare had the finest goods available to her—clothes, food, shelter.
“Gaze upon the mirror each day, O Queen and Spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually study your face within it.” —Fourth letter to Agnes of Prague
When Clare left her home, she was completely alone. For a brief time, she met with Francis and his brothers and then took refuge with a community of religious sisters. In essence, however, she was charting her own path.
Today is the start of our Lenten journey. On our foreheads we wear ashes, a sign that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return. Such an outward sign conveys a message that words do not.
The life of a hermit living in the desert strikes many people as mysterious, if not inexplicable. Yet this is what Saint Hilarion, and many others, sought and hoped for and, in some cases, fought for. They teach the value of solitude and prayer to our noisy and busy world.
Saint Paul of the Cross dedicated his life to the memory of Christ’s passion and death. Known as the Passionists, the Congregation of the Passion that he founded is committed to preaching the good news of Christ crucified, and to caring for the poor. The Passionists take a fourth vow to promote the Passion of Jesus.
