St. Claire, Virgin

Today is August 12, 2008, 3rd Class Feast of St. Claire of Assisi.

St. Claire was sometimes called alterfranciscus because of her immitation of the life of the great mendicant Friar St. Francis of Assisi. She followed the rule of St. Francis but unlike the mendicant order, she could not go itenerant but lived in an enclosure in the Church of San Damiano rebuilt by St. Francis. She became the prioress and eventually an Abbess. She governed the order of nuns - Poor Claire) for 42 years until her death. She was known for her holiness, for love of poverty and for her obedience to the will of God. She outlived Francis for nearly12 years.

My Prayerful Reflection:

Lord, we thank you for giving us a Saint like Claire whose love for poverty and obedience to your will truly reflected the values and strength of the Evangelical Counsels - Obedience, Chastity and Poverty. In all these three counsels she has striven to live and obey. She animated all these counsels by her life despite opposition and difficulties. Today as we are confronted by the gods of secularism, whose virtues are the love for comfort and riches and the independence of the "self", may we ever be reminded of the Life and Example of St. Claire. To be poor in spirit and in material things, poverty willingly chosen and not imposed by circumstances. Chastity, both in heart and in practical reality and in relation to other persons. And obedience first to God and to God-appointed authorities on earth. Lord, thank you for the gift of St. Claire and may we be found true till the end of time. We may not have the holy stigmata, but impress on our hearts the five wounds of the Savior so that when we are tempted to sin we may seek out the wounds of the Lord and hide under the protection of the water and blood that gushed out from the Heart of the Dying Savior. In Jesus name, Amen.

St. Claire, pray for us so that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.