Poor Clares

Since St. Clare of Assisi and her sisters never left the convent of San Damiano, it seems this directive could be challenging. Yet Clare still showed her love outwardly through her letters and through service to her sisters.

When St. Clare died on August 11, 1253, she was only fifty-nine years old. Yet what she accomplished in those fifty-nine years has endured even today. That says a lot about her and the strength of her faith.

“This woman, noble by birth, but nobler by manner of life, eminently preserved the virginity she had already protected from the first under this rule of holiness.” —Papal Decree of Canonization

St. Clare’s life was not easy. From the struggle to follow her religious vocation, to the physical suffering she experienced throughout her life, to the pope’s ongoing resistance to approving her rule for the sisters, she continually pushed forward with strength.

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.