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LIFE AND WORK OF SANTA CLARA DE ASIS

He was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1193. His conversion to the life of full holiness was effected by hearing a sermon by Saint Francis of Assisi. When she was 18 years old, Saint Francis preached the Lenten sermons in Assisi and there he insisted that in order to have full freedom to follow Jesus Christ, one must get rid of wealth and material goods.

He secretly went to seek the saint to ask him to instruct her in how to achieve Christian perfection. He told her that she had to get rid of everything about her, he encouraged her to leave the life of riches and comforts that she led and dedicate herself to a poor life, of prayer and penance.

On Palm Sunday of the year 1212 Clara attended the celebration but was so excited and beside herself that she did not go on to receive the palm. Then the bishop went to the bench where she was and placed her blessed palm in her hands. And that night, at midnight, accompanied by a servant girl, she secretly left her house (a rich mansion of a very wealthy family) and went two kilometers away, where San Francisco lived very poorly in a place called La Porciúncula. There the saint was waiting for her, who came out to receive her along with her friars, all carrying lighted lamps and singing for joy.

Kneeling before Saint Francis, Clara made a promise to renounce the riches and comforts of the world and to dedicate herself to a life of prayer, poverty and penance. The saint, as a first step, took a few scissors and cut her long and beautiful hair, and placed a simple cloak on her head, and sent her to where some nuns who lived nearby, to prepare to be a holy nun

When the brothers who were very wealthy and hoped to marry Clara to a millionaire landowner, they noticed the girl’s absence, they dedicated themselves to looking for her everywhere. At last they found her in her convent where she had taken refuge and they wanted to take her away by force. She clung to the altar cloths, which were torn by so much violence from the attackers, and when they were going to take her away, Clara uncovered her shaved head and told them: «For the love of my Christ Jesus I have totally renounced all love for the material and worldly ». Her brothers, seeing her like this and so resolute, gave up trying to take her away

an Francisco made Clara go to live next to the Church of San Damiano in Assisi, in a poor and humble little house. And behold, her sister Inés hers and her own mother decided to go nuns with her as well. And many more girls were attracted by that life of prayer and recollection, and thus soon the convent was full of women dedicated to holiness. Francisco appointed Clara as superior of the community, and although she tried all her life to renounce the position of superior and dedicate herself to being a simple second-order nun, nevertheless for forty years she will be the prioress of the convent and the nuns will not accept her. no other to replace her as long as she lives, and the fact is that her way of exercising authority was very pleasant and full of charity. She served the table, washed the dishes, took care of the sick, and with all of them she was like a real little mother full of understanding and mercy.

Within a few years there were already convents of Poor Clares in Italy, France, Germany and Czechoslovakia. And these nuns did some very special penances, inspired by the example of their holy foundress who was the first to dedicate herself to penance. They did not wear stockings or footwear, they abstained perpetually from meat, and only spoke if some serious need or charity compelled them to do so. The foundress recommended silence as a remedy to avoid countless sins of the tongue and to remain in union with God, and to stay away from harmful distractions from the world, because if there is no silence, worldliness inevitably enters the convent.

Not content with the mortifications that the other nuns did, Santa Clara fasted on bread and water for the forty days of Lent and the days before the great festivals. And she spent many days without eating or drinking anything. She slept on a hard board and for a pillow she had some dry grass. Saint Francis and the bishop of Assisi instructed her not to let a day go by without eating even a piece of bread. Little by little, her experience taught her not to be too exaggerated in penances because she was damaging her health. And later she will write to her nuns: «Remember that we do not have a body of steel or stone. That is why we must moderate the exaggerated desire to do penances, because health can suffer very serious damage ».

Following the teachings and examples of her teacher San Francisco, Santa Clara wanted her convents to have no wealth or income of any kind. And although she often offered him gifts of goods to ensure the future of her nuns, she did not want to accept them. To the Supreme Pontiff who offered him some income for her convent he wrote: «Holy Father: I beg you not to absolve me or free me from  the obligation that I have to be poor as Jesus Christ was ». To those who told him to think about the future, he responded with those words of Jesus: «My heavenly father who feeds the birds of the field will know how to feed us too.» Today there are 18,000 Poor Clare nuns in 1,248 convents in the world.

Once some Mohammedan soldiers arrived, terrible anti-Catholics, to attack the convent, destroy and kill. The nuns went to pray very scared; and Saint Clare, who was extraordinarily devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, took the custody with the consecrated host in her hands and confronted the attackers. They felt at that moment such a terrible wave of terror that they fled without hurting them. Once again the enemies attacked the city of Assisi and wanted to destroy it. Santa Clara and her nuns prayed with all faith before the Blessed Sacrament and the attackers withdrew without knowing why.

Our saint was ill for 27 years, but she bore her illness with heroic patience. On her bed he was embroidering and sewing, and she prayed without ceasing. The Supreme Pontiff visited her twice and exclaimed: «I wish I had as little need to be forgiven, as this holy nun has.» Cardinals and bishops came to visit her and ask for her advice. Saint Francis had already died, and three of the saint’s favorite disciples, Fray Junípero, Fray Angel and Fray León, read the Passion of Jesus to Clara while she was dying. The saint she repeated: «Since I have dedicated myself to thinking and meditating on the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the pain and suffering have not discouraged me but rather consoled me

On August 10, 1253, at 60 years of age and 41 years of being a religious, she went to heaven to receive her award. On a day like today she was buried. Blessed Saint Clare: never stop praying to God for us.