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Saint Clare of Assisi is remembered as a woman who quietly but firmly chose God above all else. She was born into comfort and privilege, yet she found her joy in living a life of prayer, simplicity, and complete trust in Christ. Clare’s humility and steadfast love for the Eucharist became the heart of her witness.
She did not seek recognition, but her faith drew others to follow the same path of total dedication to God. The religious community she began — now known as the Poor Clares — still continues her mission of prayer and simplicity around the world.
The Church celebrates her feast on August 11, honoring her gentle courage and unwavering devotion.
Quick Facts About Saint Clare of Assisi
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Born | July 16, 1194 in Assisi, Duchy of Spoleto (now Umbria, Italy) |
| Died | August 11, 1253 in Assisi, Papal States (now Umbria, Italy) |
| Category | Religious Sister, Foundress of the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares), Abbess, Virgin |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church; also commemorated in Anglican Communion and some Lutheran traditions |
| Feast Day | August 11 |
| Beatified | Pre-Congregation |
| Canonized | September 26, 1255, by Pope Alexander IV |
Early Life
Clare was born on July 16, 1194, in Assisi, a small hill town in the Duchy of Spoleto, which is now part of Umbria, Italy. She was given the name Chiara Offreduccio di Favarone, “Chiara” meaning “clear” or “bright” in Italian — later known in English as Clare. Her father, Favarone Offreduccio, was a nobleman and a knight, and her mother, Ortolana, came from another respected family in the region. Clare grew up in a large stone house, surrounded by the expectations and privileges of medieval nobility.
The Assisi of her childhood was a place of both beauty and conflict. It had a strong Catholic identity, with churches, monasteries, and public religious festivals shaping daily life. At the same time, the town had recently been marked by tensions between wealthy noble families and the emerging merchant class, as well as the after-effects of political struggles between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Clare’s family lived in comfort, but they were also bound by the strict customs of the time, especially for daughters — marriage was expected, often arranged to strengthen family alliances.
From a young age, Clare showed a gentle spirit and a deep attraction to prayer. Stories say that she practiced acts of fasting and gave food from her own plate to the poor, even before she fully understood the sacrifices involved. But she was still a child of her environment, surrounded by fine clothing, rich meals, and the pride that came with noble status. These comforts and expectations would later become a challenge for her, because leaving them behind meant breaking away from everything her family planned for her.
This mix of privilege and inner devotion shaped Clare’s heart. She learned early what it meant to have much — and she began to sense that God was calling her to something very different.
Religious Life and Calling
Clare’s call to serve God began to take shape in her teenage years, as she quietly observed the growing movement led by Francis of Assisi. Francis, once a wealthy young man like many in her social circle, had abandoned everything to live in poverty and serve Christ. His example touched her deeply. Around 1211 or 1212, Clare began to hear him preach in the Church of San Giorgio, and his words stirred something in her heart — a desire to live for God alone, without the burden of wealth or social expectation.
At first, this calling was a private struggle. Clare was expected to marry, and her family likely had plans that would secure alliances with other noble families. Yet, the more she prayed, the more she felt that such a life was not for her. Choosing God’s path meant defying the customs of her time, and she wrestled with the fear of disappointing her family.
Her decision became clear during Lent in 1212. On Palm Sunday, after receiving a blessing from the bishop, she quietly left her home at night and went to the small chapel of the Portiuncula, where Francis and his brothers awaited her. There, she exchanged her rich clothes for a simple habit, and Francis cut her hair as a sign of her new life dedicated to Christ. This moment was not only the start of her religious vocation but also a decisive break from the wealth and security she had known.
Clare’s choice was radical — for a woman of her time, leaving family and wealth to live in poverty was almost unthinkable. But in her heart, she knew she had found the path God had prepared for her.
Major Contributions or Miracles
After entering religious life, Clare was placed temporarily in a Benedictine convent for her safety, as her family tried to persuade her to return home. Soon after, she moved to the small monastery of San Damiano, just outside Assisi, which Francis had repaired years earlier. This became the home of the community she founded, later called the Order of Poor Ladies — now known as the Poor Clares. Clare served as abbess for more than forty years, guiding the sisters with gentleness, wisdom, and firmness in living the Gospel.
Her main contribution was shaping a way of life centered on absolute poverty, daily prayer, and care for the sick and needy. Clare wrote a rule for her order — the first monastic rule written by a woman to be formally approved by the Church — which Pope Innocent IV confirmed just two days before her death. She resisted pressure from church leaders to adopt a softer rule that would allow property or steady income. For Clare, complete trust in God’s providence was not optional but essential.
One of the most remembered events in her life took place in 1240, when Assisi was attacked by the army of Frederick II. As soldiers approached the convent, Clare, though very ill, asked to be carried to the door holding the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance. She prayed before Christ in the Eucharist, asking Him to protect her sisters. According to the earliest accounts, the attackers suddenly withdrew, leaving the convent unharmed. The Church has long regarded this as a miracle of her intercession and faith.
Clare’s life was not about public preaching like Francis’s, but through her hidden life of prayer, steadfast leadership, and defense of her community’s way of poverty, she influenced countless believers and helped shape the Franciscan movement.
Suffering, Persecution, or Martyrdom
Clare was not martyred in the sense of dying for the faith through violence, but her life was marked by steady suffering and opposition. From the very beginning of her vocation, she faced pressure from her own family, who saw her decision to live in poverty as shameful and dangerous. Her relatives tried to physically bring her back home in the first days after she left, but she resisted firmly, holding onto the altar and refusing to return.
As abbess of San Damiano, Clare also endured years of frail health. Chronic illness often left her bedridden, yet she continued to lead her sisters, give counsel, and guide the community’s spiritual life. Her determination to uphold absolute poverty — refusing to own property or secure steady income — brought repeated tensions with church authorities. Popes and cardinals, though respectful of her holiness, urged her to accept a safer and more sustainable rule. She gently but firmly refused, believing that to do otherwise would compromise the calling God had given her and the sisters.
The political unrest of her time also touched her life. Assisi, like much of Italy, was caught in conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Armies, such as those of Emperor Frederick II, threatened the region more than once. In 1240 and again in 1241, her convent faced real danger from soldiers, and Clare bore the weight of protecting her sisters in times of fear and uncertainty.
Her suffering was not only physical but also mental and spiritual — the constant responsibility for her community, the struggle to defend their way of life, and the endurance needed to remain faithful through decades of illness and pressure. Yet Clare bore these trials without bitterness, using them to deepen her trust in God.
Death and Legacy
By the summer of 1253, Clare’s health had weakened greatly after years of illness. Even in her final days, she continued to guide her sisters and hold firmly to the rule of absolute poverty that had defined their life together. On August 9, Pope Innocent IV came personally to her bedside to approve the rule she had written for her order — a rule that no other community had been allowed to follow in such strict form. This was a moment of great joy for Clare, as it confirmed the way of life she had defended for decades.
Two days later, on August 11, 1253, Clare died at the convent of San Damiano in Assisi, surrounded by her sisters. She was about 59 years old. Her body was taken to the Church of San Giorgio in Assisi, where it was first buried. In 1260, her remains were transferred to the newly built Basilica of Saint Clare in Assisi, where they are still venerated today.
After her death, devotion to Clare spread quickly. The sisters she had formed carried her example to new monasteries across Europe. Her commitment to poverty and prayer inspired not only women religious but also laypeople who wanted to live more simply for Christ. The Poor Clares grew into an international order, and her example continued to be linked closely to that of Saint Francis, showing how men and women could share the same Gospel vision in different but complementary ways.
Relics associated with Clare, including her well-preserved body, are kept in the Basilica of Saint Clare, which has become a major pilgrimage site. Her story has been told in early biographies written by those who knew her personally, making her one of the most historically well-documented women of the Middle Ages. Through these writings, her influence has remained alive in the Church, reminding believers that quiet faithfulness can shape history as powerfully as public preaching.
Canonization and Veneration
The Church recognized Clare’s holiness very soon after her death. Less than two years later, on September 26, 1255, Pope Alexander IV officially canonized her as a saint in a ceremony held in the city of Anagni, Italy. Because she had already been widely honored and her sanctity was well-attested by those who knew her, there was no separate beatification process — she was declared a saint directly.
Her major shrine is the Basilica of Saint Clare in Assisi, which houses her relics, including her incorrupt body, displayed for veneration in a side chapel. The basilica also contains some of her personal belongings, such as the simple tunic she wore and locks of her hair cut when she entered religious life.
Her feast day has always been celebrated on August 11, close to the date of her death, in the Roman Catholic Church. She is also honored in the Anglican Communion and remembered in certain Lutheran traditions. Over time, devotion to Clare has spread far beyond Italy, with churches, convents, and schools named in her honor in many countries.
Today, she is recognized as the patron saint of television and those who work in communications, a title given by Pope Pius XII in 1958. This unusual patronage is linked to a tradition that, during her illness, Clare was miraculously able to see and hear Christmas Mass taking place in the Church of San Francesco while she remained in her bed at San Damiano.
The Poor Clares, her spiritual daughters, continue to live according to her rule in monasteries around the world, keeping alive the life of prayer, poverty, and devotion to the Eucharist that Clare first embraced. Pilgrims still travel to Assisi each year to pray at her tomb, draw inspiration from her example, and ask for her intercession.
Short Prayer for Intercession
Prayer to Saint Clare of Assisi
Saint Clare of Assisi,
you chose Christ over wealth and comfort,
and lived with joy in poverty and prayer.
You faced illness, opposition, and fear,
yet you trusted completely in God’s providence.Pray for us, that we may live with the same humility,
love for the Eucharist, and steadfast faith.
Help us to see God’s will clearly,
and to follow it with courage, even when it is hard.Amen.
