Catholic Radio Dramas

Saint Clare of Assisi

A Letter to Blessed Agnes of Prague by Saint Clare of Assisi, virgin (1194-1253)

St. Clare’s Letter: Behold the poverty, humility and love of Christ

Happy indeed is she who is granted a place at the divine banquet, for she may cling with her inmost heart to him whose beauty eternally awes the blessed hosts of heaven; to him whose love inspires love, whose contemplation refreshes, whose generosity satisfies, whose gentleness delights, whose memory shines sweetly as the dawn; to him whose fragrance revives the dead, and whose glorious vision will bless all the citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem, for he is the splendor of eternal glory, the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without cloud.

Queen and bride of Jesus Christ, look into that mirror daily and study well your reflection, that you may adorn yourself, mind and body, with an enveloping garment of every virtue, and thus find yourself attired in flowers and gowns befitting the daughter and most chaste bride of the king on high. In this mirror blessed poverty, holy humility and ineffable love are also reflected. With the grace of God the whole mirror will be your source of contemplation.

Behold, I say, the birth of this mirror. Behold his poverty even as he was laid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility, what marvelous poverty! The King of angels, the Lord of heaven and earth resting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his humility, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he endured to redeem the human race. Then, in the depths of this very mirror, ponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the cross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself, from his position on the cross, warned passersby to weigh carefully this act, as he said: All of you who pass by this way, behold and see if there is any sorrow like mine. Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: I will be mindful and remember, and my soul will be consumed within me. In this way, queen of the king of heaven, your love will burn with an ever brighter flame.

Consider also his indescribable delights, his unending riches and honors, and sigh for what is beyond your love and heart’s content as you cry out: Draw me on! We will run after you in the perfume of your ointment, heavenly spouse. Let me run and not faint until you lead me into your wine cellar; your left hand rests under my head, your right arm joyfully embraces me, and you kiss me with the sweet kiss of your lips. As you rest in this state of contemplation, remember your poor mother and know that I have indelibly written your happy memory into my heart, for you are dearer to me than all the others.

Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings

Saint Clare (1194-1253) was born into a noble family at Assisi, Italy, on July 11, 1194. From her infancy she was extremely charitable and devout. Her parents, while virtuous and pious, were interested in the married life for Clare. But, desiring the religious life, Clare rejected this idea and consecrated her life to Christ. At eighteen, she was so impressed by a Lenten sermon of St. Francis that, on Palm Sunday, she ran away from her home and received the religious habit from St. Francis at the Portiuncula in Assisi. He then placed her in the Benedictine convent of St. Paul near Bastia. She was successful in resisting the forcible efforts of her family to remove her from the convent and bring her home.

Clare was soon joined by her fifteen year old sister, Agnes, who also received the habit from Francis. Angered by this, her father sent twelve armed men to bring Agnes back but Clare’s prayers in her behalf rendered her so heavy the men were unable to budge her and so she remained.

Clare was made superior of a convent established by Francis, a post she would hold for forty years. The Poor Clares were thus founded and Clare was joined by her mother, another sister, three members of the famous Ubaldini family of Florence, and others. They adopted a rigid rule and practiced great mortifications wearing neither stockings, shoes, sandals, nor any covering on their feet. Taking a strict vow of poverty, they also slept on the floor and maintained silence except when doing works of charity. Clare wore a rough shift of horsehair or of hog’s bristles and fasted all during Lent on bread and water only. She had a particular devotion to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and spent entire nights of prayer before the tabernacle. Building grace through prayer, the hardships of an austere life, and their moving works of charity to the poor and the sick, the order flourished and spread to other parts of Italy, France and Germany.

Clare’s influence became such that she was consulted by Popes, cardinals, and bishops. She was also credited with many miracles. The prayers and intervention of St. Clare were credited with saving Assisi from the military siege launched by the soldiers of Emperor Frederick II in 1241. As the troops were about to storm the city, Clare went to the tabernacle containing Blessed Sacrament, placed the host in a monstrance and confronted the soldiers at the gates of Assisi. The oil painting above, by Giuseppe Cesari in 1603 memorializes this dramatic encounter. The painting is displayed today in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. It depicts a scene of St. Clare, carrying a monstrance containing the Blessed Eucharist, while marching to a head-on confrontation with the enemy. The invading army was thrown into confusion and summarily dispatched into a full retreat.

Clare died at Assisi on August 11, 1253, and was canonized two years later in 1255. The following is St. Clare’s letter to her sister, Blessed Agnes of Prague.