Saint Clare before the Blessed Sacrament

Español

Saint Clare of Assisi, first woman follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and first Franciscan female saint, was born in 1194 in the noble family of Favarone at Assisi in central Italy. Her name, Clara in Latin and Chiara in Italian, means clear, shining or bright. 

At the age of 15 Clare was deeply impressed by the preaching of Saint Francis and wanted to follow him. Having no provision for any woman member in his Order, Francis kept her in suspense for three years. Then, on Palm Sunday, 18 March 1212, she went to Francis and begged him to admit her into his Order. Seeing her earnestness and determination, he agreed. As suggested by Francis, that night she, with her cousin Filippa, escaped from home by the door reserved for taking bodies of dead members out, and went to the church of Saint Mary of the Angels at Portiuncula which Francis had rebuilt. There, in front of the altar, she renounced her costly clothes and beautiful hair, and received from him the Franciscan monastic habit, and into his hands made vow of absolute poverty and dedicated herself to following the poor and humble Christ.