Clare of Assisi

Who they were

On Palm Sunday night 1211, Clare, eighteen, from a wealthy family of Assisi, slipped away from home to the Porziuncola, where Francis cut her hair and clothed her in rough wool; she had seen him, years before, strip himself before his father to embrace poverty. Her father tried in vain to bring her back.

Other women joined her, among them her mother and sisters, until there were about fifty; Francis gave them San Damiano, the church he had restored, and called them the 'Poor Ladies'. She called herself his 'little plant' and supported the friars' mission by prayer. One Christmas night, too ill to leave her cell, she saw the rites at the Porziuncola on its wall, for which Pius XII named her patron of television. She died on the bare floor of San Damiano on 11 August 1253, saying: 'Blessed be You, Lord, who created me.'

The miracles

She was canonised only two years after her death. The miracles examined are not described in the sources we have used.

Why that counted as sanctity

Clare chose poverty freely, for the freedom of belonging wholly to God, and lived it with joy in prayer: 'Nothing is so great as the heart of man, for God dwells there.'

Connected on this site

• Agnes of Assisi Saint Brother or sister
• Beatrice d'Assisi Blessed Brother or sister
• Ortolana Blessed Parent, Mother
  “She was the wife of Favarone Offreduccio, and mother of Saint Clare of Assisi and Saint Agnes of Assisi, who both entered religious life.” — Wikipedia
• Amata of Assisi Saint
  “Amata of Assisi (died 1254 or 1255) was a saint, a Poor Clare nun, and one of Saint Clare of Assisi's original followers.” — Wikipedia
• Francis of Assisi Saint
  “Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled Clara, Clair or Claire; Italian: Chiara d'Assisi), is an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.” — Wikipedia
• Angelo Tancredi Blessed
  “He also putatively aided St Clare of Assisi in establishing her order.” — Wikipedia
• Pius XII Venerable
  “One Christmas night, too ill to leave her cell, she saw the rites at the Porziuncola on its wall, for which Pius XII named her patron of television.” — this site's research