Home
It was Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, and the People of Assisi were attending Holy Mass. Suddenly, and without ceremony, the Bishop of Assisi left the altar and went among the faithful to present a branch of palm to a young and bashful maiden, St. Clare. That evening when darkness had fallen, Clare left her home and went to the Church of the Portiuncula where she met Saint Francis and his fellow Brothers. Francis accompanied Clare to the altar of Our Lady. He then cut off her hair and gave her his simple habit, a piece of sackcloth with a cord as a girdle. It was with this simple rite that an eighteen-year-old virgin of noble birth had dedicated her life to God. Clare left Saint Francis and journeyed to San Damiano, just outside of Assisi. She obtained a battered house and established the first convent of the Franciscan Nuns. This new order of nuns was named "Poor Clares" after its foundress. It wasn't long before Clare's fourteen-year-old sister, Agnes, came to join her. She was followed in a short time by Clare's mother and other women of noble birth. The nuns tended the sick and at Clare's intercession, many were cured. When the Saracen army of Frederick II was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, a small group of his soldiers went to pillage the convent. Clare had the Blessed Sacrament placed in a monstrance above the gate leading to the convent. She knelt before it and prayed that the nuns, and the convent would be spared. The invading soldiers were standing about when a voice from the Host answered, "My protection will never fail you." A sudden panic seized the patrol and they fled, leaving the Convent and nuns unharmed. With the exception of the time Clare went to Saint Francis to talk of God, she never left her voluntary confinement. This did not cut her off from the world, however. She exerted great influence from the simple convent and many bishops, cardinals, and even two Popes came to her seeking advice and consultation. It wasn't long before other convents of Poor Clares began to spring up in many places. The nuns of this Franciscan order went barefoot and constantly observed perpetual abstinence, constant silence, and poverty. Cardinal Ugolino imposed a rule on the order that forbade communal poverty. Clare spent thirty-two years struggling for the restoration of the true Franciscan rule without success. Then, on August 9, 1253, her request was granted. Pope Innocent IV had heard her plea and restored the Franciscan rule. Clare's twenty-eight-year illness came to an end on August 11, 1253. It was on this fateful day, while the passion was being read, Clare left this world. She was canonized two years later by Pope Alexander IV and her remains laid to rest under the high altar of the church that bears her name, Santa Chiara at Assisi. To honor the seventh centenary of the death of St. Clare, the Vatican Postal Administration released a set of two stamps on August 12, 1953, the day set aside by the church as her feast day. |
| (National Philatelic Museum, Volume VII, Number 1, 1954, pages 61-107) We are greatful to the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum for allowing the Vatican Philatelic Society to use the copyrighted text on our website. |
