From: hildegard8@excite.com   
      
   August 11th - St. Clare   
      
   (1194-1253)   
      
   One of the more sugary movies made about Francis of Assisi pictures Clare as   
   a golden-haired beauty floating through sun-drenched fields, a sort of   
   one-girl counterpart to the new Franciscan Order. The beginning of her   
   religious life was indeed movie material. Having refused to marry at 15, she   
   was moved by the dynamic preaching of Francis. He became her lifelong friend   
   and spiritual guide.   
      
   At 18, she escaped one night from her father's home, 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 the 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.   
      
   End of movie material. Sixteen days later her sister Agnes joined her.   
   Others came. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity and   
   complete seclusion from the world, according to a rule Francis gave them as   
   a Second Order (Poor Clares). At 21, Francis obliged her under obedience to   
   accept the office of abbess in which she continued until her death.   
      
   The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost   
   complete silence. (Later Clare, like Francis, persuaded her sisters to   
   moderate this rigor: "Our bodies are not made of brass.") The greatest   
   emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no property, even   
   in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope tried to   
   persuade her to mitigate this practice, she showed her characteristic   
   firmness: "I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish to be   
   absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ."   
      
   Contemporary accounts glow with admiration of her life in the convent of San   
   Damiano in Assisi. She served the sick, waited on table, washed the feet of   
   the begging nuns. She came from prayer, it was said, with her face so   
   shining it dazzled those about her. She suffered serious illness for the   
   last 27 years of her life. Her influence was such that popes, cardinals and   
   bishops often came to consult her-she herself never left the walls of San   
   Damiano.   
      
   Francis always remained her great friend and inspiration. She was always   
   obedient to his will and to the great ideal of gospel life which he was   
   making real.   
      
   A well-known story concerns her prayer and trust. She had the Blessed   
   Sacrament placed on the walls of the convent when it faced attack by   
   invading Saracens. "Does it please you, O God, to deliver into the hands of   
   these beasts the defenseless children I have nourished with your love? I   
   beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect." To   
   her sisters she said, "Don't be afraid. Trust in Jesus." The Saracens fled.   
      
   Comment:   
      
   The 41 years of Clare's religious life are poor movie material, but they are   
   a scenario of sanctity: an indomitable resolve to lead the simple, literal   
   gospel life as Francis taught her; courageous resistance to the ever-present   
   pressure to dilute the ideal; a passion for poverty and humility; an ardent   
   life of prayer; and a generous concern for her sisters.   
      
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
      
   On her deathbed, Clare was heard to say to herself:Go forth in peace, for   
   you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who 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.   
   -Saint Clare of Assisi   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
      
   "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my   
   refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart   
   before him: God is a refuge for us." (Psa 62:7-8)   
      
      
      
   <><><><>   
   CONSECRATING THE LAST TWO HOURS   
   OF OUR LIFE TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN   
      
   by the late Rev. Fr. Ildefonso M. Izaguirre, O. P.   
      
   Prostrated at the feet, and humiliated by my sins, but full of   
   confidence in thee, O Mary!  I beg thee to accept the petition   
   my heart is about to make.  It is for my last moments.  Dear   
   Mother I wish to request thy protection and maternal love so   
   that in the decisive instant that thou wilt do all thy love can   
   suggest in my behalf.   
      
   To thee, O Mother of my soul, I consecrate THE LAST TWO   
   HOURS of my life.  Come to my side to receive my last   
   breath and when death has cut the thread of my days, tell   
   Jesus, presenting to Him my soul, "I LOVE IT".  That word   
   alone will be enough to procure for me the benediction of my   
   God and the happiness of seeing thee for all eternity.   
      
   I put my trust in thee, my Mother and hope it will not be in vain.   
      
   O Mary!  Pray for thy child and lead him to Jesus!   
      
   Amen.   
      
   "Abandoning the Mother is but one step   
   from abandoning the Son"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)