Clare

(c. 1193–1253)

   Saint and Order Founder.

   Clare was born in the town of Assisi, Italy. In 1212 she joined St francis at Portiuncula and dedicated herself to the religious life. After a time in a Benedictine Order, she formed her own community at Assisi, following Francis’s Rule. Her nuns were known as the Poor Clares and they were famous for their poverty and austerity. The order spread throughout Europe, although differences arose as to the level of poverty which had to be observed. Clare herself was a person of great sanctity; on two occasions she is said to have saved Assisi from foreign armies, simply by appearing on the city walls with the Sacrament. She was canonised only two years after her death. The order which bears her name is still regarded as one of the most strict in the Western Church.

   Clare of Assisi, Works, edited and translated by R.J. Armstrong (1988);

   N. de Roebeck, St Clare of Assisi (1980).