#poor clares

[odlnus]

St. Francis & St. Clare of Assisi Chibis

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Do not use / repost without cred

[apenitentialprayer]

Eternal Father, I offer You the six hours of agony, the death, and the piercing of Your Son's most Sacred Heart for this intention: [state your intention here].

a prayer recommended by Mother Angelica of the Annunciation, P.C.P.A.

[historicalvagabond]

Madrid's Monasterio de Las Descalzas Reales was once the monastery of Habsburg princesses and high-born daughters of European nobility: A nunnery for the rich and famous.

Las Descalzas Reales: Madrid's Monastery of the Rich and Famous

[anastpaul]

(via Saint of the Day – 20 February – Blessed Amata (c1200-c1254) OSC Virgin, Nun of Assisi,)

Saint of the Day – 20 February – Blessed Amata (c1200-c1254) OSC Virgin, Nun of Assisi, a Poor Clare Nuna and one of Saint Clare of Assisi’s original followers and her niece Born in Assisi as Amata di Caran. Her name means “beloved” in Latin and is now a common religious name among the Poor Clares.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI The Patron Saint of Television and Invoking for Good Weather Feast Day: August 11

"I ask to be accepted as a bride of the Lord in monastic life." -Clare (played by Dolores Hart) in 'Francis of Assisi' (1961)

The foundress of the Poor Clares, Clare was born into a noble family in Assisi, Italy in 1194. At the age of 19, enchanted by a Lenten sermon of St. Francis of Assisi, she went secretly to Portiuncula to consecrate herself to the Lord.

After she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and cutting off her long hair, Francis gave her sackcloth and placed her in the Benedictine convent of San Paulo, near Bastia. When her relatives came to take her back home, Clare held onto the altar and resisted their attempts, professing that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ.

In due time, together with the other ladies, she founded a new religious order near the Church of San Damiano. The Poor Clares (Order of Saint Clare), as they are known, practiced a life of perfect poverty and strict penance. They went around barefoot, fasted every day, and never spoke except when obliged by necessity and charity.

In 1228 when Pope Gregory IX offered Clare a dispensation from the vow of strict poverty, she replied: 'I need to be absolved from my sins, but not from the obligation of following Christ.'

Accordingly, the Pope granted them the Privilegium Pauperitatis, which means, that nobody could oblige them to accept any possession.

In 1224, the army of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II came to plunder Assisi. Clare went out to meet them with the Blessed Sacrament on her hands. Suddenly, a mysterious terror seized the enemies, who fled without harming anybody in the city.

Pope Pius XII designated Clare as the patron saint of television in 1958, on the basis that when she was too ill to attend Mass, she had reportedly been able to see and hear it on the wall of her room.

There are traditions of bringing offerings of eggs to the Poor Clares for their intercessions for good weather, particularly for weddings. This tradition remains popular in the Philippines, particularly at the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara in Quezon City and in the town of Obando, Bulacan. According to the Filipino essayist Alejandro Roces, the practice arose because of Clare's name. In Castilian, 'clara' refers to an interval of clear weather, and also to the white or albumen of the egg.

Before breathing her last in 1253 at the age of 59, Clare said: 'Blessed be you, O God, for having created me.'

©2022 photo by yours truly

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (August 11)

"Go forth without fear, Christian soul, for you have a good guide for your journey. Go forth without fear, for He that created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother."

- Saint Clare, on her deathbed in 1253

Saint Clare was born on 16 July 1194 in Assisi to a noble family.

Before her birth, her mother received a sign that her daughter would be a bright light of God in the world.

As a child she was already very strongly drawn to the things of God, praying fervently, devoutly visiting the Blessed Sacrament, and manifesting a tender love towards the poor.

When she was 18, she heard St. Francis preaching in the town square during Lent and she knew at once that God wanted her to consecrate herself to Him.

The next evening, Clare left her house, ran to meet St. Francis and his companions at the church they were staying in, and shared her desire to follow him in his way of life.

He received her, gave her his tunic, cut off her golden locks, and sent her to a Benedictine convent, because she could not stay with the brothers.

Her younger sister Agnes soon joined her and the two had to resist much pressure from their family to return home.

When Clare was 22, St. Francis placed her in a small house beside the convent and made her superior, a post she should serve for the next 42 years of her life until her death.

The ´Poor Clares,' as they came to be known, lived an unusually austere life for women of the time, walking barefoot around the town begging for alms, wearing sackcloth, and living without any possessions, completely dependent for their food on what was given to them.

But the emphasis of their lives was, and still is, contemplation.

Many young noble women left all they had to take on the poor habit of Clare and the order grew rapidly, with houses being founded all over Italy, all of whom took St. Clare as their model and inspiration.

Clare's reputation for holiness was such that the Pope himself came to her deathbed in 1253 to give her absolution and wanted to canonize her immediately on her death. However, he was advised by his cardinals to wait.

Claire died in absolute tranquility, saying to one of the brothers at her side:

"Dear brother, ever since through His servant Francis I have known the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have never in my whole life found any pain or sickness that could trouble me."

She was canonized by Pope Alexander IV on 26 September 1255, two years after her death.

[stastrodome]

Saint Clare, pray for us.

I have to admit, I am simply not strong enough to meet the world with a philosophical response beyond escapism. I have no argument to counter the truths of existentialism but I have the comfort of withdrawing into books with poems about larks and a simple TV where I can still watch shows about rock star families and a priest that's a cop.

[aeshnalacrymosa]

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Men and women CAN be friends when they both love God.