Aug 10 - “St. Clare of Assisi: Seraphic Matriarch” © icon by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM.
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In the year 1212, when she was 18 years old, St. Clare left behind the wealth and ease of her noble family and embraced the evangelical poverty she had heard St. Francis praise in the streets of Assisi. For her remaining 41 years, she struggled against incredible odds to be true to her ideals. When Church authorities ordered her to relax the austerity of her way of life, she patiently insisted that women could follow Gospel ideals as well as men. Two days before her death, she finally received papal approval for the rule she had written for her followers.
For 28 years, Clare was often ill and confined to her bed. Even in bed, she insisted on doing her share of work, as a poor woman. In spite of her illness and other problems, in spite of the sorrow she must have felt as she watched many of Francis' male followers abandon his ideals after his death, her writings are filled with peace and joy. In one of her letters to St. Agnes of Prague, she encourages Agnes to imitate Christ, using the image of Christ's cross as a mirror:
"Look into this mirror every day, O queen, spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually examine your face in it, so that in this way you may adorn yourself completely, inwardly and outwardly, clothed and covered in multicolored apparel, adorned in the same manner with flowers and garments made of all the virtues as is proper... Moreover, in this mirror shine blessed poverty, holy humility, and charity beyond words, as you will be able, with God's grace, to contemplate throughout the entire mirror."
In this icon she wears the simple habit of a female penitent, which evolved into the more elaborate garb many of her modern followers now wear. She holds out to us the mirror of the cross, encouraging us to judge how well our lives conform to the life of Christ. As matriarch and guide of the entire Franciscan family, she reminds us that we are to mirror Christ to the world, preaching first by example so that our words will not ring hollow or false.
Her feast day is August 11.
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