Hail, Saintly Nun and Foundress of the Poor Clares

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Clare of Assisi (1194 AD - 1253 AD).  Born near Assisi to a wealthy, noble family, Clare from an early age was devout and pious.  Moved by a sermon of Francis of Assisi to embrace evangelical poverty, on Francis's advice she left her father's house and entered a Benedictine convent.  St. Clare would soon found a new contemplative congregation which practiced extreme poverty, supporting itself entirely upon alms.  The Poor Clares, as they are popularly known, were the first religious community to receive the pope's written approval to renounce the ownership of property.  Against her own will, but in obedience to the wish of St. Francis, St. Clare served as abbess of her community.  When her convent was attacked by forces of the emperor Frederick II, St. Clare defended the house by appearing in a window of the convent holding a monstrance before her.  This appeared to dazzle the attackers, who withdrew.  When a larger force invested the convent and the neighboring town of Assisi, St. Clare and her community prayed on their knees for deliverance.  A storm duly appeared, destroying the camp of the attackers, and they likewise withdrew.  This greatly endeared St. Clare to the people of Assisi, and when she died a new church, Santa Chiara, was built to contain her remains.  She was buried deep beneath its main altar, but the exact spot was forgotten for 600 years.  In the mid nineteenth century, St. Clare's remains were rediscovered.  Her clothing and her flesh had turned to dust but her bones were well preserved.  St. Clare's bones were put on display in Santa Chiara, and may be venerated there today. 

In the 1961 Cinemascope movie "Francis of Assisi," the role of St. Clare was played by Dolores Hart.  Within a few years, Dolores Hart would herself become a cloistered nun, entering the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut.   She has for many years served as Prioress of the community.

Bradford Dillman, who played St. Francis in the movie, did not enter a religious community.

St. Clare of Assisi, pray for us.