St. Clare of Assisi

Born: July 16, 1194

Died: August 11, 1253

Feast day: August 11

Patron saint of: eye disease, laundry, television, bicycle messengers, good weather, needleworkers

Clare. Chiara. The clear one. As her name suggests, Clare had clarity of purpose and intense determination from an early age. She was probably no more than 17 or 18 when she first heard Francis of Assisi preach. Yet, as he spoke, she heard her own voice. In befriending him, she became truer to herself.

Clare was born in 1193 to a well-to-do family in Assisi. The patriarchal structures of the times dictated the place of women. Those, like Clare, who felt called to live a life of vowed poverty, chastity, and obedience were bound to live in an enclosure.

Clare didn’t question this. She had other causes that consumed her. And so it was in the little dwelling at San Damiano in Assisi that Clare lived for 42 years until her death in 1253.

During this time, Clare became convinced that a life of radical poverty was essential for maintaining loving relationships among the sisters in the community and experiencing total reliance upon and union with God.

Knowing that formal papal approval was the only way her Rule could survive through the ages, Clare pressed Pope Innocent IV until he acquiesed. Two days later, her mission accomplished, Clare died.

—Fran Ferder