Today Is The Feast Day Of St. Clare Of Assisi And 800th Celebration Fo

[Chiara Francesco]

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From the Divine Office, Matins (Office of Readings) Second Reading:

A letter of St Clare to Blessed Agnes of Prague:

[b]Consider the poverty, humility and charity of Christ [/b]

Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendour of eternal light, the mirror without spot.

Look into that mirror daily, O queen and spouse of Jesus Christ, and ever study therein your countenance, that within and without you may adorn yourself with all manner of virtues, and clothe yourself with the flowers and garments that become the daughter and chaste spouse of the most high King. In that mirror are reflected poverty, holy humility and ineffable charity, as, with the grace of God, you may perceive.

Gaze first upon the poverty of Jesus, placed in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. What marvellous humility! What astounding poverty! The King of angels, Lord of heaven and earth, is laid in a manger. Consider next the humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labours and burdens which he endured for the redemption of the human race. Then look upon the unutterable charity with which he willed to suffer on the tree of the cross and to die thereon the most shameful kind of death. This mirror, Christ himself, fixed upon the wood of the cross, bade the passers-by consider these things: ‘All you who pass this way look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.’ With one voice and one mind let us answer him as he cries and laments, saying in his own words: ‘I will be mindful and remember and my soul shall languish within me.’ Thus, O queen of the heavenly King, may you ever burn more ardently with the fire of this love.

Contemplate further the indescribable joys, the wealth and unending honours of the King, and sighing after them with great longing, cry to him: ‘Draw me after you: we shall run to the fragrance of your perfumes, O heavenly bridegroom.’ I will run and faint not until you bring me into the wine cellar, until your left hand be under my head and your right hand happily embrace me and you kiss me with the kiss of your mouth.

In such contemplation be mindful of your poor little mother and know that I have inscribed your happy memory indelibly on the tablets of my heart, holding you dearer than all others.
Lord God, in your mercy
you led Saint Clare to the love of poverty.
Help us, by her intercession,
to follow Christ in poverty of spirit,
so that, in the kingdom of heaven,
we may see you in your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[b]Amen.[/b]

[b]------------------------------------------ [/b]

[b]Saint Clare (1193/4 - 1253)[/b]


She was born at Assisi and came under the influence of Saint Francis. She left home at the age of 18 and, under Francis’s guidance, began a community that grew to become the order of the Poor Clares (she was later joined both by her sister and by her widowed mother). In its radical attachment to poverty the Rule of the order was much more severe than that of any other order of nuns. In 1215 Clare obtained from the Pope the privilege of owning nothing, so that the nuns of the order were to be sustained by alms and nothing else. Such a rule was (like the Franciscan rule) both a challenge to established structures and a risk to those who followed it, and successive Popes tried to modify it. In 1247 Pope Innocent IV promulgated a new Rule that allowed the ownership of communal property: Clare rewrote it. A later attempt at mitigation in 1263 partly succeeded (perhaps because Clare was dead by then): some communities followed the old, strict rule and some followed the new.

Clare was a noted contemplative and a caring mother to her nuns. She died at Assisi in 1253.

See the articles in the [url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04004a.htm"]Catholic Encyclopaedia[/url].

The drift towards laxity and the desire for strictness are part of the history of every religious order. In the history of most monasteries, for example, one can find both a steady relaxation of the rule and a desire on the part of some members of the community to be more severe and ascetic – possibly even to become hermits. The Maronist Saint Sharbel Makhluf is one example; the Trappist Thomas Merton is another. In our own lives, too, we are always oscillating between being too strict and being too lax. It seems to be a universal tension in the human race.


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Preserved tunic and cape worn by St. Clare of Assisi

[Chiara Francesco]

[size=5][/size]
[size=5][b][u]THE LITANY OF ST. CLARE, FIRST-BORN SECOND ORDER[/u] [/b][/size]

[size=5]Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
O Christ, hear us.
O Christ, graciously hear us. [/size]

[size=5]O God the Father, of Heaven:
have mercy upon us.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world:
O God, the Holy Ghost:
O Holy Trinity, one God:
have mercy upon us. [/size]

[size=5]Holy Mary:
Pray for us.
Immaculate Virgin:
Mother and Mistress of our Order:
Pray for us.
St. Clare, first-born of thy Order:
Pray for us.
St. Clare, spouse of the Crucified:
St. Clare, lover of the Blessed Sacrament:
St. Clare, lover of the Sacred Heart:
St. Clare, lover of the Sacred Wounds:
St. Clare, lover of the Sacred Name:
St. Clare, lover of the Sacred Gospel:
St. Clare, to thy mother forenamed "resplendent":
St. Clare, resplendent with the light of Jesus:
St. Clare, resplendent in thy noble heritage:
St. Clare, resplendent in thy renunciation thereof:
St. Clare, resplendent in clinging to the altar as thy portion:
St. Clare, resplendent as first abbess of a great Order:
St. Clare, resplendent in putting the Saracens to flight:
St. Clare, resplendent in reparation for the sins of the world:
St. Clare, resplendent in wondrous miracles:
St. Clare, little plant of St. Francis:
St. Clare, princess of the poor:
St. Clare, duchess of the humble:
St. Clare, mistress of the chaste:
St. Clare, abbess of the penitent:
St. Clare, alabaster box of ointment broken at the feet of Jesus:
St. Clare, received at death by a choir of virgins:
St. Clare, censer of sweet perfume filling heaven and earth:
Pray for us.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world:
spare us, O Lord.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world:
graciously hear us, O Lord.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world:
have mercy upon us. [/size]

[size=5]V. Pray for us, O blessed Clare. Alleluia.
R. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ. Alleluia. [/size]

[size=5][i]Let us pray.[/i][/size]

[size=5]Choose one of the following Collects:[/size]

[size=5]O God Who hast raised up blessed Clare as a shining lamp of holiness to lighten the way before a multitude of virgins: by her merits and prayers grant to us who do call to mind her commemoration, that in this life we may walk in Thy light, and in the life to come, may forever enjoy the light of Thy countenance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. [/size]

[size=5]We beseech Thee, O Lord, that like as we do celebrate the memory of blessed Clare thy Virgin: so she may intercede for us; and that we may become partakers with her of eternal joy and joint heirs of Thy Only-Begotten Son. Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen. [/size]

[size=5]O God, Who hast filled the world with the splendid virtues of blessed Clare, Thy Virgin, by whom Thou hast also increased Thy Church with a new offspring: be pleased to grant; that we may so follow in her steps as to attain unto the splendor of her eternal glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. [/size]

[Chiara Francesco]

[b] [url="http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/08/st-clare-of-assisss-holy-wound-devotion.html"]St. Clare of Assiss's Holy Wound Devotion[/url][/b]


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[left]St. Clare of Assisi's feast day is this Saturday, August 11th, and also the 800th Celebration for the Poor Clares and Poor Clare Colettines' founding. St. Clare had a deep devotion to the Sacred Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ and she composed the following prayers she prayed every day:[/left]

[size=1][i]This exquisite seven-century-old devotion was composed and was daily recited by Our Seraphic Mother St. Clare of Assisi, foundress of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Clares. St. Clare's devotion of the Five Wounds, as reproduced here, is from an appendix in The Princess of Poverty, by Father Marianus Fiege, O.M.Cap. The litany is approved by the Holy See for private devotion, and in 1885 was enriched by Pope Leo XIII with an indulgence of 300 days, once a day. [/i][/size]

[size=1][size=2]Prayer Source: [i]Kyrie Eleison — Two Hundred Litanies[/i] by Benjamin Francis Musser O.F.M., The Magnificat Press, 1944[/size] [/size]


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[b] [size=3]St. Clare's Devotional Prayers of the Sacred Wounds[/size][/b]

[b]Christ's Sacred Right Hand Wound[/b]

Praise and honor be given Thee, O my Lord Jesus Christ, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Right Hand. [i]By this adorable wound, I beseech Thee to pardon me all the sins I have committed by thoughts, words and deeds, by neglect in Thy service, and by self-indulgence, both waking and sleeping.[/i] Grant me the grace that, by a devout and frequent remembrance of Thy Holy Passion, I may honor Thy sacred wounds and the death which Thou didst endure for love of me; and that, by chastising my body, I may testify my gratitude for Thy sufferings and Thy death: Who livest and reignest, world without end.
R. [i]Amen.[/i] Our Father. Hail Mary.

[b]Christ's Sacred Left Hand Wound[/b]

Praise and honor be given Thee, O most amiable Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Left Hand. [i]By this holy wound, I beseech Thee to have pity on me and to change within me whatever is displeasing to Thee.[/i] Grant me to be victorious over Thine enemies, so that, by the power of Thy grace, I may overcome them; and do Thou, by Thy holy and adorable death, deliver me from all dangers, present and to come, and make me worthy to share in the glory of Thy Blessed Kingdom: Who livest and reignest, world without end.
R. [i]Amen. [/i]Our Father, Hail Mary.

[b]Christ's Sacred Right Foot Wound[/b]

Praise and honor be given Thee, O sweetest Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Right Foot. [i]By this holy and adorable wound, I beseech Thee to enable me to bring forth worthy fruits of penance for my sins.[/i] I humbly entreat Thee, for the sake of Thine adorable death, to keep me, day and night, in Thy holy will, to preserve me from all adversity of soul and body, and, on the dreadful day of judgment, to deal with me according to Thy mercy, that I may obtain eternal joys: Who livest and reignest, world without end.
R. [i]Amen.[/i] Our Father, Hail Mary.

[b]Christ's Sacred Left Foot Wound[/b]

Praise and honor be given Thee, O sweet and merciful Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Left Foot. [i]By this adorable wound, I beseech Thee to grant me pardon and full remission of all my sins, so that, with Thine aid, I may escape the rigors of justice.[/i] I entreat Thee, O good and merciful Jesus, for the sake of Thy Holy Death, to grant that at the hour of my death, I may have the grace to confess my sins with a perfect contrition, to receive the adorable Sacrament of Thy Body and Thy Blood, and likewise, the holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction for my eternal salvation: Who livest and reignest, world without end.
R. [i]Amen.[/i]
Our Father, Hail Mary.


[b]Christ's Sacred Wound of His Side[/b]

Praise and honor be given Thee, O good and sweetest Jesus, by reason of the Wound in Thy Sacred Side. [i]By this adorable wound and by that immense mercy shown Longinus and to us all, in allowing Thy Sacred Side to be opened, I beseech Thee, O good Jesus, that as in Baptism Thou didst purify me from original sin, so now Thou wouldst be pleased, by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood, Which is offered up this day over the whole world, to deliver me from all evils, past, present, and to come.[/i] I entreat Thee, by Thy bitter death, to give me a lively faith, a firm hope, and perfect charity, so that I may love Thee with my whole heart, with my whole soul, and with all my strength. Uphold me by Thy grace in the practice of good works, so that I may persevere to the end in Thy holy service and glorify Thee in time and eternity.
R. [i]Amen.[/i] Our Father, Hail Mary.

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. [i]Because, by Thy death and Thy precious blood, Thou hast redeemed the world.[/i]

Let us pray. O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast ransomed the human race by the five wounds of Thy Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: we beseech Thee, by the merits of His precious blood, to grant unto us, who, each day, venerate these same adorable wounds, to be delivered from a sudden and unprovided death: Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, Our Lord, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end.
R. [i]Amen.[/i]
[i]--------------------------------------------------------------------------[/i]

[b]A very Powerful Prayer to Obtain a Favor[/b]

O great Passion! O deep Wounds! O Blood
shed in abundance! O meekness! O God of
meekness, O cruel death, have mercy on me
and grant my request if it be for my salvation.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[b]Promises of Our Lord[/b]

"I will grant all that shall be asked of Me
through the invocations of my Holy Wounds."

"With my Wounds and my Divine Heart
you can obtain all."

[Chiara Francesco]

"Spirituality of Francis and Clare of Assisi" video
Given by Br. Bill Short, O.F.M.
Franciscan School of Theology &
Graduate Union - Berkeley, CA

Brother Bill Short is professor of spirituality at the Franciscan School of Theology. With a special love of things medieval, is a scholar equally comfortable in the fields of spirituality, Christian history and the Franciscan tradition. He researches, writes, lectures and translates in four languages. His frequent lectures, retreats and workshops outside the school educate the wider community about the Franciscan tradition. Throughout his tenure at FST, he has been a long time member of the Board of Trustees, former dean and president of the school.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85dqlcoilYw&feature

[Chiara Francesco]

[b] [url="http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writings-of-st-clare-letter-to.html"]Writings of St. Clare - Letter to Ermentrude of Bruges[/url][/b]

[b] Clare's letter to Ermentrude of Bruges[/b]


[img]http://www.francis-bible.org/writings/image/CLARE/clare-web.gif[/img]The Irish Franciscan scholar, Luke Wadding, in his "Annales Minorum", ad. ann. 1257, supplement 20, states that Clare wrote two letters to Ermentrude of Bruges. Ermentrude was the daughter of the bailiff of Köln. In 1240 she left on a pilgrimage. She arrived in Bruges, Belgium, where she lived for twelve years in a hermitage. Upon hearing about Clare and the Poor Ladies she left for a pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome, but found that Clare was already dead. When she returned to Bruges she transformed her small hermitage into a monastery of Poor Ladies and then instituted other monasteries in Flanders. The text given in "Annales Minorum" is a fusion of the two letters, and its authenticity has been questioned by various scholars. However, its contents are widely accepted as echoing Clare's thoughts as written down to Ermentrude.

To Ermentrude, dearest sister, Clare of Assisi, humble handmaid of Jesus Christ, greetings and peace.

I know that you, o dearest sister, have fled the filth of the world, with the help of God's grace; for which I rejoice and give thanks with you and again rejoice that you tread the paths of virtue strenuously with your daughters. Be faithful, dearest, to him to whom you are promised until death, and you will be crowned by him with the laurel of life.

This labour of ours is brief, but the reward is eternal; let the noises of the fleeting world and its shadow not confound you; let the empty spectres of the deceiving world not drive you mad; shut your ears to the whispers of hell and, strong, break down its attempts [against you]; willingly bear adverse evils and let provident goods not puff you up; for the one requires faith, the other demands it; what you promised God, faithfully render, and he will repay you.

O dearest, look on heaven that invites us, and bear the cross and follow Christ who preceded us; indeed, after various and many tribulations we shall enter through him into his glory. Love with your whole heart God and Jesus, his son, crucified for our sins, and never let his memory escape your mind; make yourself mediate continually on the mysteries of the cross and the anguish of the mother standing beneath the cross.

Pray and be always vigilant. And the work that you began well, finish and the ministry you assumed, fulfil in holy poverty and sincere humility. Do not fear, daughter, God is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works, he will pour out his blessing on you and your daughters; and he will be your helper and your best consoler; he is our redeemer and our eternal reward.

Let us pray God for each other, for in bearing each other's burden of charity we shall fulfil the law of Christ. Amen.

[b][url="http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writings-of-st-clare-4th-letter-to-bl.html"]Writings of St. Clare - 4th Letter to Bl. Agnes of Prague[/url][/b]

[b]The fourth letter to Blessed Agnes of Prague[/b]

[img]http://www.francis-bible.org/writings/image/CLARE/SMartini_st%20claire_web.jpg[/img]To the other half of her soul and repository of the special love of her deepest heart, illustrious queen, spouse of the Lamb of the eternal King, the Lady Agnes, her own dearest mother and, among all the others, her special daughter, Clare, unworthy servant of Christ and useless handmaid of his handmaids who live in the Monastery of San Damiano in Assisi, sends greetings and her prayer that Agnes, together with the other most holy virgins, will sing a new song before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and will follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

O mother and daughter, spouse of the King and all ages, even if I have not written to you as frequently as both your soul and mine would have desired and longed for, do not for a moment wonder or believe in any way that the fire of my love for you burns any less sweetly in the deepest heart of your mother. The truth is that a shortage of messengers and the obvious perils of travel have hindered me. But now, as I write to your love, I rejoice and exult for you in the joy of the Spirit, spouse of Christ, because like that other most holy virgin, Saint Agnes, you have been in an astonishing way espoused to the immaculate Lamb, who, having assumed responsibility for all the vanities of this world, takes away the sins of the world. Happy, indeed, is the one permitted to share in this sacred banquet so as to be joined with all the feelings of her heart to him -

Whose beauty all the blessed hosts
of the heavens unceasingly admire,
Whose affection moves,
whose contemplation invigorates,
Whose generosity fills,
Whose sweetness replenishes,
Whose remembrance pleasantly brings light,
Whose fragrance will revive the dead,
And whose glorious vision will bless
All the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem,
Because the vision of him is the
splendor of everlasting glory,
The radiance of everlasting light,
and a mirror without tarnish.
Look into this mirror every day,
O queen, spouse of Jesus Christ,
And continually examine your face in it,
So that in this way you may adorn yourself
completely, Inwardly and outwardly,
Clothed and covered in multicoloured apparel,
Adorned in the same manner with
flowers and garments
Made of all the virtues as is proper,
Dearest daughter and spouse of the most high King.

Moreover, in this mirror shine blessed poverty, holy humility, and charity beyond words, as you will be able, with God's grace, to contemplate throughout the entire mirror. Look closely, I say, to the beginning of the life of this admired one, indeed at the poverty of him who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger.

O marvelous humility!
O astonishing poverty!
The King of the angels,
The Lord of heaven and earth is
Laid to rest in a manger!

Consider also the midst of his life, his humility, or at least his blessed poverty, the countless hardships, and the punishments that he endured for the redemption of the human race. Indeed, ponder the final days of this mirrored one, contemplate the ineffable love with which he was willing to suffer on the tree of the cross and to die there a kind of death that is more shameful than any other. That mirror suspended upon the wood of the cross from there kept urging those passing by of what must be considered, saying: O all you who pass by this way, look and see if there is any suffering like my suffering. In response let us with one voice and in one spirit answer him who is crying out and lamenting: I will remember this over and over and my soul will sink within me. Therefore, seeing this, O queen of the heavenly King, you must burn ever more strongly with the fervour of charity! Furthermore, as you contemplate his indescribable delights, riches, and everlasting honours, and heaving a sigh because of your heart's immeasurable desire and love may you exclaim:

Draw me after you, Heavenly Spouse, we shall run in the fragrance of your perfumes! I shall run and not grow weary until you bring me into the wine cellar, until your left hand is under my head and your right arm blissfully embraces me; and you kiss me with the most blissful kiss of your mouth.

As you are placed in this contemplation, may you remember your poor little mother, (knowing that I have inseparably inscribed the happy memory of you on the tablets of my heart, for I regard you as dearer than all others. Why say more? Let my physical tongue be silent, as it is said, and let the tongue of the Spirit speak.

O blessed daughter, since in no way at all could my bodily tongue express more fully the love that I have for you, that which I have written is certainly inadequate. I beg you to receive these words with kindness and devotion, seeing in them at least the motherly affection, by which every day I am stirred by the fire of love for you and your daughters; please ask them to pray for me and my daughters in Christ.

Indeed, inasmuch as they are able, my own daughters, and especially the most prudent virgin, Agnes, our sister, beg you and your daughters to pray for them in the Lord.

Farewell, dearest daughter, together with your own daughters, until we meet at the throne of glory of the great God, and pray for us.

I must now commend to your charity, as fully as possible, our dearest bearers of this letter, Brother Amato, beloved by God and human beings, and Brother Bonaugura. Amen.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Chiara Francesco