Clare’s Guiding Light
sisters draw strength from the saint’s example in the face of adversity
A solemn, peaceful Clare greets visitors to Mt. Assisi Place in Pittsburgh, Pa.
steady and steadfast
Pennsylvania has been the hub of the School Sisters of St. Francis U.S. Province since our earliest days in the United States more than a century ago. On the western side of the state in Pittsburgh, a statue of St. Clare installed for our 100th anniversary celebration keeps watch outside Mt. Assisi Place, our former motherhouse and home still today to a dozen of our Sisters. On the eastern side of the state, our Monocacy Manor residence and St. Francis Center for Renewal in Bethlehem, Pa., operate under the watchful eye of Clare, her likeness at home among the lush greens and sounds of Monocacy Creek in the distance.
She’s there for a reason.
As our name suggests, we are followers of Francis of Assisi, but we too study, appreciate and practice the teachings of St. Clare of Assisi, a student of Francis and pioneering woman in her own right. In the face of adversity — not completely unlike what we as a nation and a people face today during a pandemic — Clare refused to marry at 15, elected a simple life of poverty and was steadfast in her faith. She left home at 18 — on Palm Sunday 1212 — to seek a path whereby she could live according to the Gospel. This passage from the Franciscan Media website offers colorful detail.
At 18, Clare escaped from her father’s home one night, was met on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called the Portiuncula received a rough woolen habit, exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed her long tresses to Francis’ scissors. He placed her in a Benedictine convent, which her father and uncles immediately stormed in rage. Clare clung to the altar of the church, threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair, and remained adamant.
Clare focused on prayer and manual labor, but slowly and surely, worked to transform the Pope’s governing rule from a Benedictine spirit to a newly-established Franciscan rule. Over time, other women joined Clare, dedicating their lives to poverty and faith, and forming the Order of the Poor Ladies, or Poor Clares.
For 41 years until her death in 1253, Clare lived in austerity, swore her allegiance to Christ and Francis, protected her monastery and those within from invaders by brandishing the Blessed Sacrament, and cared selflessly for the sick, including for Francis near his death. Some might call her a troublemaker, some an inspiration. Either way, she was an instrument of change. It took only two years after her death for her to be canonized.
“Clare was loyal but steadfast,” says Sister Nancy Celaschi, who leads Franciscan pilgrimages that include major landmarks from Clare’s life in Assisi. “She was respectful of everyone, but respectfully disagreed with those authorities who would try to convince her to water down her (and Francis') ideal of Gospel living. She eventually won, but had paid the price for many years.”
Our community — and Franciscans everywhere — observe the Feast of St. Clare on August 11 each year. But we look to her example, her courage and her relentless commitment as a guiding light all throughout the year.
Clare offers her protection to all who live, visit and pray at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa.
“Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow.”
our sisters reflect on embracing clare’s light in today’s world
S. Jeanne Marie Ulica
Clare lived during a time of political and civil instability in central Italy. Towns were fighting one against another and there were tensions between the rising merchant class and the aristocratic class, resulting in open and destructive conflict. Even the traditional structures of religious life were challenged. In her own way, Clare brought something completely new to religious life, the prophetic vision to imagine that God was doing a new thing among them. Life today during this pandemic can be challenging. What can we learn from Clare to help us get through this? What she taught her sisters is what we also can learn: To live in relationship with one another, to be honest, simple, poor, gentle and joyful. Most important she wants us to live in the awareness of God’s presence, especially during these difficult times.
S. Frances Marie Duncan
St Clare was a woman of strong conviction and determination. Against the wishes of her family, she gave up all of her wealth and followed Christ and Francis. She teaches us that no matter how difficult life is, once one has discerned, through prayer, the path that they must take, they need to muster up the strength to follow that commitment. Clare's life was not easy, but prayer saw her through the most difficult times. No matter how our lives have changed through this pandemic, prayer will see us through, as well.
S. Jean Makovsky
I admire Clare’s commitment to prayer and service. Like her, we must be willing to let go with love.
S. Karen Buco
St. Clare, who walked in the footsteps of St. Francis, lived the Gospel radically by her example of prayer and service to everyone. Like her, I am called to be a mirror, reflecting the face of Christ in people I encounter daily, praying for them, serving and supporting them in every way possible.
Scroll down to read Sister Karen’s poem about Clare.
S. Rosalia Giba
My favorite quote from Clare is this: "Go forth without fear, for he who has created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.”
S. Nancy Celaschi
As I walked down along Forest and Sprague Avenues to go to morning Mass recently, I couldn't help notice how many of the walls are beginning to yield to the pressure of the earth’s slight movement with every rainfall. All the walls — stone, brick or wood — show signs of yielding and, in some places, they have given in. I smiled to myself as I thought of St. Clare’s unrelenting insistence on the “privilege” of living in poverty, without any real estate to guarantee anything more than a little garden for their needs. And then I thought of the Popes who, one after another, yielded to her insistent request, and finally confirmed it in a Rule approved the day before she died. The final wall had collapsed.
S. Maria Derecola
Clare is the patron saint of vision. Like her, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus!
S. Lois Jean DiFalco
I appreciate that Clare was kind to her Sisters.
S. Pat Maire Buranosky
Many years ago, a van load of Sisters were on our way to Gilmary in Coraopolis, Pa. It was the Feast of St. Clare. The van tipped over due to a number of reasons. St. Clare saved us with only a few simple injuries.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CLARE
Celebrate the Feast of St. Clare by joining our own Sister Nancy Celaschi at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 10, for a special online program, Who Was Clare of Assisi? The Zoom get-together is part of St. Francis Center for Renewal’s Beyond Bricks & Mortar retreat programming.
Clare’s enduring Spirit in the Solitude of COVID
Sister Marie Therese Sherwood applies Clare's shining example to these times.
Among my many blessings as a Franciscan woman is visiting Assisi, the birthplace of Saints Francis and Clare. To reach the monastery of San Damiano where Clare lived with her sisters, one has to walk down a long countryside road with breathtaking views of grassy hills and fields.
Once inside the walls of San Damiano, I feel Clare's spirit, in the chapel where she spent hours gazing upon the San Damiano crucifix, the refectory where a bouquet of flowers marks the place at the table where she ate her sparse meals, and in the common dormitory, where she and her sisters slept on straw mats and where she took her last breath at the age of 59.
For Clare, living her contemplative vocation within the monastery, the “enclosure” was not meant to keep the world out, but rather to be that intimate place where the heart becomes the dwelling place of the God she loved. Clare's “light” and holiness radiated out to the townspeople. Eyewitness accounts were given of Clare healing people who came to her door, never keeping anyone away. While lying ill on her straw mat, she used her sewing skills to spin cloth to make corporals and altar cloths for nearby churches.
During this pandemic, we have all experienced being "enclosed," confined within our homes, social distancing from family and friends, inhibited from traveling any distance. We have experienced solitude and the opportunity, for longer periods of prayer and communion with our God. We too, can be a “light” to others by reaching out to them through FaceTime, emails, phone calls, letters and cards, each connection bringing joy to others and brightening their lives. We too, like Clare, can bring healing to a hurting world.
This display created by our Sisters in Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa., reminds us — on the Feast of St. Clare and every day — to be reflections of Jesus Christ.
Clare of Assisi
An Original Poem by Sister Karen Buco
Clare — young and beautiful — a lady of distinguished grace, was born to wealthy nobility where poverty had no place.
A gentle, noble lady of her day whose lifestyle left her empty still.
Unfulfilled and dissatisfied, there was a void in her life which only God could fill.
As she listened to Francis preach the word of the Lord, her heart and soul were touched by what she heard.
Moved by the Spirit in the dark and stillness of the night,
She fled with the help of her companion to follow what she knew was right.
Then to the Church of the Portiuncula her feet swiftly sped, to begin the new life to which now she was led.
Exchanging her finery, she chose to be vested instead in a simple cloth habit while unveiling her head.
The long golden tresses of hair so beautifully worn would momentarily all by Francis by shorn.
Clare humbly stood before the Lord in faith and trust to follow the call of prayer and service and do what she must.
In deep conviction, then Clare vowed to live the Gospel of the Lord, and had taken a solemn oath to live only according to His word.
In years to come, many others would follow her lead, choosing to live as Poor Ladies, now a Holy Rule she would need.
To seek the approval for this way of life from the Pope would be a long, hard task and much sacrifice ahead on her pilgrim journey.
Clare, an example of prayer and service to everyone, was gently called home by God when her work was done.
Now, we in this Franciscan Family walk in the footsteps of Jesus through Francis and Clare,
And give ourselves to the Lord by living the Gospel and serving people everywhere.
This is what the Spirit of God has called each of us to. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we pray for God’s blessing in all we do.
May the Lord bless and fill us with graces from above, as together we serve Him. May he smile on us with love.