Virgin, Foundress of the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares)
Feast: August 12 (traditional Roman calendar), August 11 in the modern.
Early Life
Clare was born in 1194 in Assisi, Italy, to a noble family of the Offreduccio lineage. Her father, Favorino, was a knight; her mother, Blessed Ortolana, was a woman of deep faith who herself made pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. Clare’s upbringing was both aristocratic and devout, and from childhood she was known for her modesty, charity to the poor, and fervent piety.
Conversion and Vocation
At age 18, Clare heard the preaching of Saint Francis during Lent at the church of San Giorgio in Assisi. Francis’s words on the radical following of Christ in poverty struck her deeply. On Palm Sunday of 1212, Clare, dressed in her finest garments, went to the cathedral for Mass. When the bishop approached with the palm branch, he descended from the sanctuary to hand it directly to her—a gesture later seen as prophetic.
That night, Clare left her father’s house secretly and, with a companion, went to the Portiuncula, where Francis and his friars received her. There, in a symbolic act, Francis cut her hair and clothed her in a rough habit, placing her under the protection of Benedictine nuns until her new way of life could be established.
Foundation of the Poor Ladies
Soon joined by her sister Saint Agnes of Assisi, Clare established a small community in the Church of San Damiano, which Francis had rebuilt earlier at the Lord’s command: “Rebuild my Church.” Clare became abbess in 1216 and remained so for over forty years.
The “Poor Ladies” embraced a life of strict poverty, perpetual fasting, silence, and enclosure, sustained by prayer and manual work. Clare refused to allow her Order to possess property, even in common—a radical imitation of Francis’s ideal. She steadfastly defended this privilege, known as the Privilegium Paupertatis, against attempts to relax it, and eventually obtained papal approval from Pope Innocent IV shortly before her death.
Miracles and Sanctity
Clare was known in her lifetime for miraculous interventions:
- The Saracen Attack (1240–1241): When the troops of Frederick II threatened San Damiano, Clare, though ill, rose from her sickbed, took the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, and faced the invaders from the cloister wall. Struck with sudden terror, they fled without harming the convent.
- Multiplication of Bread: On several occasions, God multiplied the loaves for her sisters, recalling the miracles of Elijah and Our Lord.
- Healing: She healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross and by prayer.
Death and Canonization
Clare died on August 11, 1253, after a long illness, having heard only two days before of the papal bull confirming the Privilege of Poverty. Pope Innocent IV visited her on her deathbed. Her last words were a song of praise: “Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for He who created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.”
She was canonized only two years later, in 1255, by Pope Alexander IV. Her body, still incorrupt centuries later, is venerated in the Basilica of Saint Clare in Assisi.
Legacy
Saint Clare is a model of Franciscan poverty, Eucharistic devotion, and steadfast fidelity to a God-given vocation. The Order she founded, now called the Poor Clares, continues worldwide in contemplative cloisters, living by the Gospel with the same radical simplicity she embraced.
Patronage: Eye disorders, television (due to a vision she reportedly had of the Mass when bedridden), goldsmiths, embroiderers.
Motto of her life: “Totally given to God, and God totally given to me.”