Saint Clare of Assisi: In the Service and at the Command of Lady Poverty

Saint Clare of Assisi, whose feast is celebrated today, Monday August 12, 2019, left a life of riches to follow to embrace Lady Poverty as proclaimed by the “little man dressed in brown,” Saint Francis of Assisi. She did so as she realized the vanity of the world, which was summarized as follows in the Book of Ecclesiastes:

The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. [2] Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. [3] What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun? [4] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever. [5] The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again,

[6] Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to his circuits. [7] All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again. [8] All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing. [9] What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done. [10] Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us.

[11] There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end. [12] I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem, [13] And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised therein. [14] I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit. [15] The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite.

[16] I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great, and have gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in Jerusalem: and my mind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned. [17] And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was labour, and vexation of spirit, [18] Because In much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour. (Eccleasiates 1:1-18.)

This is why we must view the events of the world around us with a sense of dispassion, which is not the same thing as indifference. The adversary wants us to live in constant states of agitation, and to this end he uses the artificial conflict engendered by partisan politics to keep all people, including Catholics, anxious about the future even though the blood of the martyrs has always been and will ever be the seed of the Church. Holy Mother Church has survived through endless periods of actual, bloody persecution, and she has survived through schisms and heresies. She will continue to survive, albeit underground, in this current period of apostasy and betrayal in which all of the forces of hell have been let loose against us by the lords of Modernity and the lords of Modernism in the counterfeit church of conciliarism.

Look, Holy Mother Church survived the onslaughts of Nero, Valerian, Trajan, Diocletian, Julian the Apostate, and the Mohammedans. She has survived the Greek Schism and the Great Western Schism. She has survived through the Protestant Revolution, and she has survived through every epoch of moral decay that corrupted the life of bishops, priests, clergy and those in religious life. It was in such a period of moral decay that Saint Francis of Assisi was raised up by God to evangelize in behalf of Lady Poverty and to call Catholics to lives of prayer, especially before the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Mother of God, penance, fasting, and a voluntary renunciation of the world and its pleasures. Saint Clare of Assisi, despite encountering the firm opposition of her family, especially that of her own father, which is what Saint Francis of Assisi himself experienced, resolved to respond to the supposed “radical” ways of Saint Francis that were nothing other than an embrace of the life of Holy Poverty and an eschewal of the world as exemplified by the Holy Family.

Pope Leo XIII, writing in Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888, explained that Catholics are not to immerse themselves headlong into the vanities of the world:

Now the whole essence of a Christian life is to reject the corruption of the world and to oppose constantly any indulgence in it; this is taught in the words and deeds, the laws and institutions, the life and death of Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of faith." Hence, however strongly We are deterred by the evil disposition of nature and character, it is our duty to run to the "fight proposed to Us," fortified and armed with the same desire and the same arms as He who, "having joy set before him, endured the cross." Wherefore let men understand this specially, that it is most contrary to Christian duty to follow, in worldly fashion, pleasures of every kind, to be afraid of the hardships attending a virtuous life, and to deny nothing to self that soothes and delights the senses. "They that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences" -- so that it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffering, and who hold not ease and pleasure in contempt belong not to Christ. By the infinite goodness of God man lived again to the hope of an immortal life, from which he had been cut off, but he cannot attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very footsteps of Christ and conform his mind to Christ's by the meditation of Christ's example. Therefore this is not a counsel but a duty, and it is the duty, not of those only who desire a more perfect life, but clearly of every man "always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus." How otherwise could the natural law, commanding man to live virtuously, be kept? For by holy baptism the sin which we contracted at birth is destroyed, but the evil and tortuous roots of sin, which sin has engrafted, and by no means removed. This part of man which is without reason -- although it cannot beat those who fight manfully by Christ's grace -- nevertheless struggles with reason for supremacy, clouds the whole soul and tyrannically bends the will from virtue with such power that we cannot escape vice or do our duty except by a daily struggle. "This holy synod teaches that in the baptized there remains concupiscence or an inclination to evil, which, being left to be fought against, cannot hurt those who do not consent to it, and manfully fight against it by the grace of Jesus Christ; for he is not crowned who does not strive lawfully." There is in this struggle a degree of strength to which only a very perfect virtue, belonging to those who, by putting to flight evil passions, has gained so high a place as to seem almost to live a heavenly life on earth. Granted; grant that few attain such excellence; even the philosophy of the ancients taught that every man should restrain his evil desires, and still more and with greater care those who from daily contact with the world have the greater temptations -- unless it be foolishly thought that where the danger is greater watchfulness is less needed, or that they who are more grievously ill need fewer medicines.

But the toil which is borne in this conflict is compensated by great blessings, beyond and above heavenly and eternal rewards, particularly in this way, that by calming the passions nature is largely restored to its pristine dignity. For man has been born under this law, that the mind should rule the body, that the appetites should be restrained by sound sense and reason; and hence it follows that putting a curb upon our masterful passions is the noblest and greatest freedom. Moreover, in the present state of society it is difficult to see what man could be expected to do without such a disposition. Will he be inclined to do well who has been accustomed to guide his actions by self-love alone? No man can be high-souled, kind, merciful, or restrained, who has not learnt selfconquest and a contempt for this world when opposed to virtue. And yet it must be said that it seems to have been pre-determined by the counsel of God that there should be no salvation to men without strife and pain. Truly, though God has given to man pardon for sin, He gave it under the condition that His only begotten Son should pay the due penalty; and although Jesus Christ might have satisfied divine justice in other ways, nevertheless He preferred to satisfy by the utmost suffering and the sacrifice of His life. Thus he has imposed upon His followers this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path; therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own salvation or that of others. Thus it becomes necessary for every one to guard manfully against the allurements of luxury, and since on every side there is so much ostentation in the enjoyment of wealth, the soul must be fortified against the dangerous snares of riches lest straining after what are called the good things of life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should lose "the treasure in heaven which faileth not." Finally, this is matter of deep grief, that free-thought and evil example have so evil an influence in enervating the soul, that many are now almost ashamed of the name of Christian -- a shame which is the sign either of abandoned wickedness or the extreme of cowardice; each detestable and each of the highest injury to man. For what salvation remains for such men, or on what hope can they rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they openly and constantly refuse to mold their lives on the precepts of the gospel? It is the common complaint that the age is barren of brave men. Bring back a Christian code of life, and thereby the minds of men will regain their firmness and constancy. But man's power by itself is not equal to the responsibility of so many duties. As We must ask God for daily bread for the sustenance of the body, so must We pray to Him for strength of soul for its nourishment in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of life, which We have said is a perpetual battle, brings with it the necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and wisely said by St. Augustine, pious prayer flies over the world's barriers and calls down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to conquer the emotions of lust, and the snares of the devil, lest we should be led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the words, "pray that ye enter not into temptation." How much more is this necessary, if we wish to labor for the salvation of others? Christ our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, the source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what he taught in word: "He passed the whole night in the prayer of God," and when nigh to the sacrifice of his life, "He prayed the longer."

The frailty of nature would be much less fearful, and the moral character would grow weak and enervated with much less ease if that divine precept were not so much disregarded and treated almost with disdain. For God is easily appeased, and desires to aid men, having promised openly to give His grace in abundance to those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost insists with most loving words: "I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you." And that we should have no fear in doing this with confidence and familiarity, he softens His words, comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so much as the love of his children. "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?" And this will not seem excessive to one who considers it, if the efficaciousness of prayer seemed so great to St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the power of God; for as God created all things by His word, so man by prayer obtains what he wills. For nothing has so great a power as prayer, because in it there are certain qualities with which it pleases God to be moved. For in prayer we separate ourselves from things of earth, and filled with the thought of God alone, we become aware of our human weakness; for the same reason we rest in the embrace of our Father, we seek a refuge in the power of our Creator. We approach the Author of all good, as though we wish Him to gaze upon our weak souls, our failing strength, our poverty; and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, Who alone can give help to the weak and consolation to the infirm and miserable. With such a condition of mind, thinking but little of ourselves, as is fitting, God is greatly inclined to mercy, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace. Let, then, the habit of prayer be sacred to all; let soul and voice join together in prayer, and let our whole daily life agree together, so that, by keeping the laws of God, the course of our days may seem a continual ascent to Him.

The virtue of which we speak, like the others, is produced and nourished by divine faith; for God is the Author of all true blessings that are to be desired for themselves, as we owe to Him our knowledge of His infinite goodness, and our knowledge of the merits of our Redeemer. But, again, nothing is more fitted for the nourishment of divine faith than the pious habit of prayer, and the need of it at this time is seen by its weakness in most, and its absence in many men. For that virtue is especially the source whereby not only private lives may be amended, but also from which a final judgment may be looked for in those matters which in the daily conflict of men do not permit states to live in peace and security. If the multitude is frenzied with a thirst for excessive liberty, if the inhuman lust of the rich never is satisfied, and if to these be added those evils of the same kind to which We have referred fully above, it will be found that nothing can heal them more completely or fully than Christian faith.

Here it is fitting We should exhort you whom God has made His helpers by giving the divine power to dispense His Sacraments, to turn to meditation and prayer. If the reformation of private and public morals is needed, it scarcely requires to be said that in both respects the clergy ought to set the highest example. Let them therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus Christ, "the light of the world, that the soul of the priest should shine like a light illuminating the whole world. The light of learning, and that in no small degree is needed in the priest, because it is his duty, to fill others with wisdom, to destroy errors, to be a guide to the many in the steep and slippery paths of life. Learning ought to be accompanied by innocence of life, because in the reformation of man example is far better than precept. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works." The meaning of the divine word is that the perfection of virtue in priests should be such that they should be like a mirror to the rest of men. "There is nothing which induces others more effectively to piety and the worship of God, than the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry: for, since they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere, others look on them as though on a mirror, to take examples from them." Therefore if all men must watchfully heed against the allurements of sin, and against seeking too eagerly fleeting pleasures, it is clear how much more faithful and steadfast ought priests to be. The sacredness of their dignity, moreover -- as well as the fact that it is not sufficient to restrain their passions -- demands in them the habit of stringent selfrestraint, and also a guard over the powers of the soul, particularly the intellect and will, which hold the supreme place in man. "Thou who hast the mind to leave all (says St. Bernard), remember to reckon thyself among what thou wouldst abandon-nay, deny thyself first and before everything." Not before the soul is unshackled and free from every desire, will men have a generous zeal for the salvation of others, without which they cannot properly secure their own everlasting welfare. "There will be one thing only sought (says St. Bernard) by His subjects, one glory, one pleasure -- to make ready for the Lord a perfect people. For this they will give everything with much exertion of mind and body, with toil and suffering, with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness." The frequent meditation upon the things of heaven wonderfully nourishes and strengthens virtue of this kind, and makes it always fearless of the greatest difficulties for the good of others. The more pains they take to meditate well, the more clearly will they understand the greatness and holiness of the priestly office. They will understand how sad it is that so many men, redeemed by Jesus Christ, are running headlong to eternal ruin; and by meditation upon God they will be themselves encouraged, and will more effectually excite others to the love of God. Such, then, is the surest method for the salvation of all; and in this men must take heed not to be terrified by difficulties, and not to despair of cure by reason of the long continuance of the evil. The impartial and unchangeable justice of God metes out reward for good deeds and punishment for sin. But since the life of peoples and nations, as such, does not outlast their world, they necessarily receive the rewards due to their deeds on this earth. In- deed it is no new thing that prosperity should come to a wrong-doing state; and this by the just counsel of God, Who from time to time rewards good actions with prosperity, for no people is altogether without merit, and this Augustine considered was the case with the Roman people. The law, nevertheless, is clear that for public prosperity it is to the interest of all that virtue-and justice especially, which is the mother of all virtues -- should be practiced, "Justice exalteth a nation; but sin maketh nations miserable."[20] It is not Our purpose here to consider how far evil deeds may prosper, not whether empires, when flourishing and managing matters to their own liking, do nevertheless carry about with them, as it were shut up in their bowels, the seed of ruin and wretchedness. We wish this one thing to be understood, of which history has innumerable examples, that injustice is always punished, and with greater severity the longer it has been continued. We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle Paul, "For all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." By the hidden dispensation of divine providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church; which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of danger in dull security and insensibility. "Nothing is equal to the Church;" (says St. John Chrysostom,) "how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered." Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And, if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do.

This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity and order-that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbor, with temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, December 25, 1888.)

Pope Leo XIII was exhorting lay Catholics, not only those who had embrace the Evangelical Counsels of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, to quit worldliness once and for all. Catholics are called to detest their sins and to recoil at their public celebration as worldlings make light of sin and engage in it without a thought of repentance. Yes, every Catholic is called to perfect in his interior life and by his dispositions to make no concessions and no compromises at all to the spirit of the world, the flesh, and the devil. How sad it is that Catholics who attempt to do so, despite their own sins and failings, are despised, if not rejected entirely, by family members for refusing to make any concessions to indecent entertainment, including wasting one’s good Catholic time by watching the rot of network television programming or by flocking to the latest motion picture, replete as most of them are with vulgarity and obscenity at “best”—if not outright mockery of God and/or the communication of New Ages messages, or stooping to dress in attire that conforms to the “fashions of the times” and not to Catholic teaching on modesty, which applies to men and women.

Indeed, the late Father Martin Stepanich, O.F.M., who was not shy about letting you know when he believed you to be in the wrong, wrote the following words in The Remnant forty-four years ago, and they are as true now as they were at the time they were published by the late Walter Matt:

The avowed enemies of God are rejoicing--temporarily--at having brought about an almost total collapse of the virtue of modesty among once virtuous Christian womanhood, while those commissioned by God to teach and uphold this angelic virtue insist on cowardly silence and indifference about it and on gutless permissiveness in manner of dress everywhere.

Meanwhile, vast numbers of supposedly "good" people remain as if without a conscience, being morally blind and insensitive as to what has really happened to a God-given virtue that was once a distinctive trademark of theirs. This type of blindness seems to go hand in hand with a brazen contempt and a sassy resentfulness towards any attempt to revive and restore the missing sense of modesty.

The fact stands out clearly that the immodest fashions of this unchaste generation still offend Our Lord "very much," as Our Lady foretold it through the angelic little Jacinta.

Anyone who still cares about God's virtue of modesty, which He has made shine with such heavenly beauty in the Immaculate Virgin Mary, cannot forget how Our Lord suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane when He foresaw so many sinners, including the immodest and the impure, remaining unrepentant. And the sight of so many immodest creatures displaying crude flesh, like animals, brings vividly before our mind's eye the frightful vision of Our Divine Savior being mercilessly scourged at the pillar. We need not strain ourselves in trying to picture this scene, for we can plainly see the immodest, with their unchaste displays of flesh and figure, continually scourging Our Lord. And we can see them crowning Him with thorns and nailing Him to the Cross all over again.

And look what sorrow the immodest and the impure are causing their Sorrowful and Immaculate Mother, whom God has presented to them as the Perfect Model of Modesty and Purity!

But it has not all happened by accident. Satan planned it this way. As he has done with such evil movements as Communism and Socialism and Freemasonry, so also has he planned out a program of gradual, not sudden, destruction of the sense of modesty and purity. A mere look at the past 50 years or more shows us very plainly how gradually it was all done, first by apparently innocent abbreviations of garments and by slight revelations of bare flesh and by subtle little displays of the figure, and then, as protests died down, by more and more abbreviations and displays--until the crude immodesty of our day became a shocking reality.

Many living today have seen it all happen before their very eyes. They have lived through it and, if they have managed to retain their God-given moral sense, they find the barbarian immodesty of the this day intolerable and they look upon it as a sin crying to Heaven for the vengeance that must inevitably come if sinners continue to refuse to amend their ways.

Perhaps some 50 years ago or more, a publication known as The Frenchwoman presented the following satanic program for the destruction of the virtue of modesty: "Our children must realize the ideal of nakedness... Thus, the mentality of the child is rapidly transformed. To escape opposition, progress must be methodically graduated: first, feet and legs naked, then upturned sleeves; afterwards, the upper part of the chest; then, the back... n summer, they will go around almost naked."

Even if such a daring statement of the powers of darkness had never come to light--though "enlightened" liberals have tried to keep it in the dark--we would still know that it had to be planned that way and could not have happened by accident. And we would also know that such a program for immodesty could not have originated anywhere but in the dungeons of hell and in the mind of Satan.

The program of gradualism intended to lead eventually to the crude immodesty that we know so painfully well today was evidently drawn up, or at least made known, some time during the Fatima years, possibly a little before or after the 1917 Apparitions of Our Lady. (Maybe some well-informed person can provide a precise date.) Bearing this in mind, we can easily conclude that it was no accident that Our Lady insisted so strongly on modesty in her Fatima Message. She knew well of the evil program that would endanger so many immortal souls, and she came to Fatima to warn souls and to save them from the evil awaiting them.

As Sister Lucy has said, one of the things that Our Lady especially asked for was modesty in dress. And still better known, though disregarded, is Jacinta's prophecy: "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much"--that little liked prophecy that leaves immodestly dressed "pious" women and girls callous and insensitive and cold.

Just as Our Lady was commissioned by God to oppose the rise of Russian Communism and all the other evils named in the Fatima Message, with God's own program of sanctification and salvation, so was part of her mission to warn souls of the dangers of immodesty and impurity that were to increase the unbelievable proportions in the years to come, and to turn them to modesty and and purity and amendment of life.

In connection with the timeliness of Our Lady's message of modesty in 1917, just when Satan's program of gradual nakedness was being put into effect, we must also mention the timeliness of the message of modesty of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922). It is fairly well known how dynamic were his two successors, Popes Pius XI and Pius XII, in promoting modesty of dress, but it is not as well known that Pope Benedict XV was before them a strenuous defender and promoter of modesty at a time when we might imagine it was not so much of a problem.

We cannot believe that the statements of Our Lady of Fatima and those of Pope Benedict XV on modesty were disconnected or were merely a matter of coincidence. We can only believe that both Our Lady of Fatima and the Holy Father of that time were inspired and guided by God Himself to speak out on modesty in dress, so as to counteract the wicked program of gradual nudism that was being inspired and guided by hell's father of iniquity.

Let us quote an important statement of Pope Benedict XV--by no means his only one--so that we may see how immodesty in dress had already begun to cause moral ruin among women and girls of his day. In an Encyclical Letter (Sacra Propediem, 1921) commemorating the 7th centenary of the founding of the Franciscan Third Order, Pope Benedict wrote as follows:

"From this point of view one cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and condition; made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree the in decency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God. Most of them would formerly have blushed for those toilettes as for a grave fault against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on the public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives the heavenly Author of purity. And We speak not of those exotic and barbarous dances recently imported into fashionable circles, one more shocking than the other; one cannot imagine anything more suitable for banishing all the remains of modesty."

If we did not know that a Pope wrote this in 1921, we would surely think it was written, or should have been written by someone, in 1972!

After thus deploring the immodesty of his day, the Holy Father exhorted women with these words: 

"In what concerns specially the Tertiary Sisters, We ask of them by their dress and manner of wearing it, to be models of holy modesty for other ladies and young girls; that they be thoroughly convinced that the best way for them to be of use to the Church and to Society is to labor for the improvement of morals." 

Whose message, do you suppose, have women and girls accepted: the message of modesty of Our Lady of Fatima and of the Holy Father or, the message of immodesty of Lucifer?

Who has recommend to them short skirts, sleeveless dresses, pants, shorts, and clownish pants suits, and so on?

Not only did women and girls buy and buy and buy the clothing that through the years became gradually shorter and skimpier and tighter and ever more unladylike, thus making the whole program of gradual nakedness a huge success, but something else happened at the same time; the sense of modesty and propriety, which God has instilled into their souls, became gradually more blurred and dim and fuzzy, until in so many it became totally blacked out and dead. They did not, and do not, know what happened to them. By blindly and stupidly following the satanic program of gradual abbreviation of attire, they destroyed in themselves a precious God-given gift--the sense of modesty--so that they have now made themselves incapable of distinguishing between modesty and immodesty, nor do so many of them care to know.

And not only have women destroyed in themselves God's gift of modesty, but they have destroyed it in their children from their earliest years, so that a whole generation has been brought up without any real understanding of modesty without any desire to possess its beauty.

And, mind you, these have been "good" and "pious" women who have done this to their children! They have been the "Lord, Lord" type who have duly said their prayers, which all are obliged to do, but who have not done "the Will of My Father Who is in Heaven" (Mt. 7. 21) by obeying His law of modesty. (Emphases added.) (Father Martin Stepanich, O.F.M., S.T.D., The Remnant, 1972.)

Powerful words, although each of us knows fellow Catholics who scoff at them as being too “severe” or “old-fashioned. Truth never has an expiration date, and that is something that Pope Pius XII himself noted in 1957:

This second virtue, modesty - the very word “modesty” comes from modus, a measure or limit - probably better expresses the function of governing and dominating the passions, especially sensual passions. It is the natural bulwark of chastity. It is its effective rampart, because it moderates acts closely connected with the very object of chastity [...] Yet no matter how broad and changeable the relative morals of styles may be, there is always an absolute norm to be kept after having heard the admonition of conscience warning against approaching danger: style must never be a proximate occasion of sin. [...] An excess of immodesty in fashion involves, in practice, the cut of the garment. The garment must not be evaluated according to the estimation of a decadent or already corrupt society, but according to the aspirations of a society which prizes the dignity and seriousness of its public attire. [...] It is often said almost with passive resignation that fashions reflect the customs of a people. But it would be more exact and much more useful to say that they express the decision and moral direction that a nation intends to take: either to be shipwrecked in licentiousness or maintain itself at the level to which it has been raised by religion and civilization. (Pope Pius XII, Address to the Congress of the Latin Union of High Fashion, November 8, 1957; as found in Norms for Modesty, which is on the website of the National Coalition for Clergy and the Laity, which also includes links to Rome's Decrees on Modesty in Dress and Cardinal Siri’s Notification Concerning Men's Dress Worn by Women. Pope Pius XII's entire address may be purchased for fifty cents at MIQ Center Catholic Books: Papal Decrees, Encyclicals.) 

One of the worst aspects of the false religion of conciliarism is how the Protestant and Masonic Judeo-Masonic Novus Ordo liturgical service has resulted in the gradual acceptance of gross indecency of dress as thoroughly acceptable in the context of putative offerings of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Some of the attire that is worn—or not worn, as the case might be in many instances—in the Novus Ordo world make some of the pagans of yore blush with shame. Offense is given to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in churches where He was once housed sacramentally and scandal is given to the little ones whose purity and innocence is so precious to Him. This Novus Ordo spirit has infected many Catholics, perhaps even some of your own family members or friends, who are immersed in the make-believe world wrought by Summorum Pontificum.

The false spirit of conciliarism is such that the compromises that are necessary to accept having "the Mass" offered in "communion with the 'pope'" lead to compromises in the lives of many of the Catholics who go to Motu Masses (or simulations of the Mass in those instances where presbyters are the officiants). "Relax." "Don't be too strict." "Just go along with the times." "Things change, you know." Really?

Try telling that to Saint John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, or to Padre Pio or to Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who had to stare down gun-toting Nicaraguans who were upset with her insistence upon exacting standards of Modesty in the tropical climate of that Central American nation. The compromises necessary to "have Mass" to please the local non-bishop in accordance with Summorum Pontificum have seen not a few priests and presbyters in the indult/Motu world called on the carpet for attempting to insist on Modesty in their chapels.You want a Motu Mass? You do what the local "bishop" says, and if the local "bishop" believes that strict standards of modesty are too "harsh," well, then, that's just one more part of your Catholic integrity that you will have to sacrifice to be in "communion" with Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Too bad for Catholic truth. Too bad for the honor and glory and majesty of the Most Blessed Trinity. Too bad for the good of souls. Too bad.

Very sadly, of course, the spirit of the world with which the counterfeit church of conciliarism has made its "official reconciliation" is such that even a lot of Catholics who assist at Masses offered by priests who recognize and accept the canonical doctrine that those who defect the Faith in even one thing are no longer Catholic and cannot hold ecclesiastical office within the Catholic Church legitimately feel free to scoff at the Virtue of Modest as they dress in scandalous attire that truly shocks the conscience.

What is the point of going to the Immemorial Mass of Tradition in such a venue when one is unwilling to divest himself or herself of the worldly attitudes that have been embraced and propagated by the counterfeit church of conciliarism in the Novus Ordo?

What is the Catholic rationale for any truly ordained priest to refrain from exhorting the faithful to adhere to strict standards of Modesty for the sake of their own souls and those of others? What? The "fear" that they will go elsewhere? Isn't that the tired refrain that is used by so many in the conciliar church ("We don't want them to stop coming to Mass, you know.") What's the point of going to Mass if one is committing, in the objective order of things as subjective culpability is left solely to God, Who alone reads the hearts and minds of us sinners, sins against Modesty and are serving as a near occasion of sin for others? What's the point? There is none.

The life and the holy example of Saint Clare of Assisi must inspire us, therefore, to stop being agitated by the events of the world and to stop pretending that one can open one’s arms in an embrace of every popular current imaginable in order to avoid being accused of “being different” than others.

Each of us is a sinner, true enough, which means that withdrawing from the word does not make us better than anyone us. Indeed, many of us, myself most especially included, have made compromises of one sort or another with the world, or have been casual in the past in our speech about the gravity of sins. Nonetheless, however, this do not disqualify us from exhorting others who have not as of yet seen fit to eschew worldliness—or worse yet, those who once did so but have returned to the vomit of the world as it seems to make one “fit in” better—to see in the example of our saints, including Saint Clare of Assisi herself, our very own paths to perfection. 

An ancient biography of Saint Clare of Assisi, probably written by Father Thomas Celano at the order of Pope Alexander IV, was contained in Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies, which was written by Father Marianus Fiege, O.F.M., Cap, and published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare in Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and it tells us of the work of Saint Clare and how she drew women from all ranks of society, including many from the nobility, to quit their lives of privilege, luxury, and excess to embrace Lady Poverty by joining the Poor Clares. Here are a few excerpts from this ancient biography (the entire text of it can be found in the appendix):

The admirable Virgin S. Clare, illustrious by her virtues, as indicated by her very name, [Clare – Latin, Clara – means shining, illustrious.] descended from a renowned family in the city of Assisi. A fellow-citizen of Blessed Francis on earth, she now reigns with him in heaven. Her father was a noble knight, and in fact, the family was of illustrious lineage on both sides. Her home was blessed with abundant wealth.

Her mother's name was Ortolana, who was, indeed, an excellent laborer in the garden. [Ortolana – Latin, Hortulana- means gardener] of the Church; for she was to plant in it a tree that was to bear most ample fruit. She was, in addition, endowed with personal merit and good works. For although bound by the ties of marriage, and obliged to attend to household affairs, she devoted, nevertheless, as much of her time as she could spare to God's service and works of piety. In company with other pilgrims she crossed the sea; and having devoutly venerated the sacred places, hallowed by the foot-prints of the Son of God, made man, she returned home with great joy. She, in like manner, went to Monte Gargano to offer her prayers to Blessed Michael, the Archangel; and she also journeyed to Rome to revere the shrines of the Holy Apostles.

But enough, “A tree is known by its fruits” and the fruit is praiseworthy because of the tree. Here the tree itself was fructified by a copious blessing from on high, so that its branches might produce abundant fruits of holiness. When Ortolana was with child and her time was near at hand, she one day, prayed, with great fervor, before a Crucifix in a certain Church that she might safely pass through the perils of child-birth. Suddenly she heard a voice saying: “Fear not, woman! For you shall bring forth a light whose rays shall illumine the whole world.”

Shortly afterwards the child was born, and received in Baptism the name of Clare, at the express wish of the mother, on account of the mysterious voice she had heard, being persuaded that the lustrous effulgence of the light, which had been foretold, would be fully verified, according to God's own pleasure.

Clare was still a mere child, when the splendor of her light began to dispel the sombre shadows of the world, and diffuse, in her tender years, the radiance of a virtuous life. With a docile heart she learned from her mother's lips the rudiments of faith, and as the Divine Spirit kindled in her heart the fire of His love, and molded her character, so she outwardly gave unmistakable sign of being a most pure chosen vessel of Divine Grace.

She gave to the poor with a lavish hand and supplied the needs of many out of the abundance of her house, and that the sacrifice might become the more acceptable to God, she deprived her own body of all delicacies and had them secretly distributed, thus cheering the hearts of the poor and the fatherless. In this way “mercy grew up with her from her infancy” and she manifested the tenderness of her heart by pitying the sorrows of the afflicted.

She loved the practice of holy prayer, so that, she gradually began to lead, in her own home, the life of a recluse, scattering around her the sweet odor of fervor. For want of a better means, she used pebbles to count the number of her prayers. As soon as she began to feel the first shafts of Divine Love pierce her soul, she instantly understood the right value of earthly things and esteemed them no more than vain and earthly trifles, being taught so by the unction of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, under her soft and rich attire, she wore a hair shirt, putting on Christ internally, while outwardly appearing to conform to the world in accordance with her state in life. Being, at length, desired by her people to contract a suitable marriage, she in nowise yielded, but, under pretext of putting off the marriage, commended her virginity to God.

Such were, in her paternal home, her sweet offerings of virtue; such her first-fruits of the Spirit, presages of her future holiness. Thus, filled with the unction of grace, she dispensed abroad the sweet fragrance of virtue, as a vessel of sweet-smelling spices, even when closed, fills the air with its aroma. In this way, unconscious and unwilling In this way, unconscious and unwilling as she was, the praise of her goodness and the fame of her virtuous deeds, even when done most secretly, soon became noised abroad. (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 30-36.)

God was preparing Saint Clare of Assisi for the work He had appointed her as the coworker of Saint Francis and his Order of Frairs Minor, who counseled her to avoid all worldliness and worldly hopes:  

About this time, she heard of Francis, whose fame had already gone forth, and who, having himself first “put on the new man,” labored with all his might to bring about in the world a renovation of Christian perfection. She, therefore, earnestly desire to see and hear him. In this resolution, too, she was moved by the Spirit of God, Who all along, had been guiding these two chosen souls, though in a different manner. On the other hand, Francis, moreover, had heard of the fame of the holy maiden, and he also was anxious to see and converse with her. For he was wholly intent upon thinning the ranks of the lovers of this world and winning souls for God. Hence he wished, if possible, to snatch this noble prey out of the reach of a wicked world, and to lay her as an illustrious trophy on the altar of God. He soon had occasion to call upon her, and, after that, she paid him frequent visits. Yet they prudently arranged the time of these meetings in such a way that their holy intentions could not be perceived by men, nor give the least rise to suspicion. For in her secret visits to the man of God, whose burning words and holy deeds seemed to her to be superhuman, she never left her father's home except in the company of a faithful friend. [Her aunt Buona Guelfuccio, who shared in the noble aspirations of her niece, and who afterwards, was among the first, if not the very first, of her spiritual daughters]

On these occasions, Blessed Father Francis would exhort her to despise the word, showing her, in glowing terms, the barrenness of all worldly hopes and the deceitfulness of all earthly beauty; and then he would instill into her soul the sweetness of the espousals with Christ, proving to her that the pearl of virginal purity was a befitting offering to be made to the heavenly Bridegroom Whom love drew down upon earth to espouse human nature.

But why multiply words? At the entreaties of the saintly Father, Who acted as a most faithful intermediary, she was not long in giving her full consent. And, forthwith, there was opened out to her a vision of the eternal joys, a sight which made the world appear more despicable, which caused her heart to dissolve yet more with a holy yearning, and which made her long still more ardently to perfect her espousals with the heavenly King. For, glowing with Divine Love, she so thoroughly despised the glory of earthly vanity, that not a particle of human praise found a place in the affections of her heart, and dreading the snares of the flesh, she proposed to herself to remain ignorant even of the very name of sin, desiring to consecrate her body as a living tabernacle to God alone, and striving to merit the espousals of the great King by the practice of virtue.

Henceforth she yielded entirely to the guidance of Francis, looking upon him as being, next to God, the pilot of her spiritual course. Her should now depended entirely upon his sacred counsels, and she listened to him with the utmost fervor of heart, whenever he spoke to her concerning the love of Jesus. She grew more and more weary of being still compelled to parade in worldly apparel, “counting all thing,” which the world admires, “as dross so as to gain Christ.”

Lest the contagion of this world should cast the least stain upon the spotless mirror of her soul, and lest worldly intercourse should, in any form, tarnish the innocence of her pure heart, Francis now hastened to take her out of this dark and treacherous world. It was close upon Palm-Sunday, when she again presented herself before the man of God, to consult him about her conversion, begging of him to tell her what to do and how to do it. Blessed Father Francis ordered her to repair in the morning to the church, dressed in her most festive attire, and, along with the people to receive the blessed palm; but that, on the night following, she was “to go forth to Christ without the camp, bearing His reproach,” leaving behind her every earthly joy, to bewail, thenceforth, the bitter passion of her crucified Redeemer. (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 30-36.)

How sad it is today that many baptized Catholics, starting with a man who apostatized from the Holy Faith decades ago, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, make light of Mortal Sins and/or simply use the word “sin” as a means to amuse others. How far such people are from the holy spirit of hatred sin and of worldliness as that exhibited by Saint Clare of Assisi, who could not undertake her work without encountering massive family opposition, forcing her to resort to the most drastic measures in order to fulfill what God had appointed for her from all eternity:

When Sunday came, Clare went to Church along with the rest, in the company of a number of young damsels, surpassing them all by the splendor of her rich and elegant dress. Then there happened an event worth mentioning. When all the faithful hastened to receive the blessed palm, Clare, out of maidenly modesty, remained in her place. The Bishop perceiving this, descended the steps, approached her seat and place a palm branch in her hand. That same night, she prepared herself to carry out the command of the Saint; and accompanied by some attendants, who formed her suit of honor, she started on her premeditated flight. Not wishing to leave the house by a public exit, she went to a side gate and finding it obstructed by huge stones and massive posts, she pulled down every obstacle with her own hands, so that she herself was astonished at the wonderful strength with which she was so suddenly endowed.

Thus she left her home, her city, her friends and relatives, and hastened to Our Lady of Portiuncula where the Brethren, who were keeping night-watch in the little sanctuary, received her with lighted torches. Here she disrobed herself of all fineries that to her appeared but as sordid rags compared to the livery of poverty. She had now done with the world forever. Her hair was cut off, and every outward ornament laid aside. Nor was it proper that the new Order of Virgins should be established in any other place than the sanctuary of her who, being the most exalted among women, it the first and only one who, at once, is both Virgin and Mother. It was her, likewise, that the new Militia of the poor under the leadership of Francis had made a happy beginning. Thus it was plain that the Mother of Mercy wished both those Orders to be born under the shadow of her sanctuary [The Blessed Virgin under the title of the Immaculate Conception, has been the principal Patron of the Threefold Order of S, Francis from the beginning.]  As soon as the humble handmaid of the Lord had received the vesture of penance before the Altar of the Blessed Virgin and been espoused to Christ before the very throne of the Mother of God, Francis conducted her to the church of San Paolo [A Monastery of Benedictine Nuns within the city of Assisi.] of to remain there until the Most High should provide her with another domicile.

When the report of these events reached the ears of her kinsfolk, they were filled with grief and roused with indignation, strongly condemning the whole proceeding. Uniting together, they rushed to San Paolo to induce Clare to return home. They used violence, employed all manner of reasoning, and added magnificent promises, if she would only desist from conduct so unworthy her noble family and unheard-of throughout the whole country. But she clung to the altar-cloths, and bearing her head, shorn of its hair, she declared her fixed determination that nothing should ever turn her away from the service of Christ. In proportion as the fury of her relations increased, so increased her courage; and the more they taunted her with insults the stronger became her love. She thus suffered persecution for God's sake a number of days, her relatives continuing to oppose her sacred purpose. Yet her courage never failed and her fervor never abated. And while they heaped opprobriums upon her, and vented their rage in every way, she remained calm, being sure of victory.  At last, cowered by Clare's courage and baffled in their attempts, they withdrew and left her in peace. 

(As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 36-39.)

Although defeated by the plans of God Himself for her, Saint Clare's relatives used more violence in an effort to drag Agnes, her sister, away from the Poor Ladies when she herself decided to follow the life of Holy Poverty. Consider the violence that was used to try to force Agnes back into the world, from which she had extricated herself for love of her Divine Spouse,  Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:

Neither must we omit the wonderful event wrought by the efficacy of Clare's prayers in the very beginning of her religious life, how she obtained the grace of religious vocation for her own sister, and how she rescued her from the persecution of her relatives. Clare had a sister, tender of years, [12 years of age]  a sister not merely by the ties of nature, but also in purity and holiness. No wonder that she was most anxious to have her for a companion in the cloister. Consequently the first prayers she offered to God were directed to this end that, she had been of one mind with her sister in the world, so they might now be of one heart and soul in His Divine Service in the cloister. For this reason she prayed most fervently to the Father of Mercies that He might inspire her sister with contempt of the world and the desire of heavenly things: that she might thus forego all natural ties of earthly marriage, however honorable, and together with her be espoused by perpetual virginity to the Heaven Bridegroom. The two sisters had always loved each other most affectionately, and the separation had become, for both, the source of much sorrow. But the Divine Majesty was pleased to speedily hear the prayers of Clare, so that the very first favor for which she was asking with so much fervor – a petition which was moreover, in itself, most acceptable to God – was granted without delay. Sixteen days had passed since Clare had retire from the world, when Agnes – such was her sister's name – moved by the Spirit of God, hastened to her, and, opening to her the secrets of her heart, told her she was most anxious to devote herself entirely to God's service. Clare embraced her sister with great joy and cried out: “O how much I thank God for having heard my prayer in your behalf!”

This wonderful conversation was followed by a protection no less wonderful. While the two happy sisters were engaged in the service of Christ in the Church of San Angelo de Pansa, Clare acting as Mistress of Novices in regard to her younger sister, to instruct her in the new mode of life, fresh persecutions were set on foot against them by their relatives. Twelve of their kinsmen, hearing that Agnes had gone over to Clare, ran the very next day, to the Church of San Angelo. They were filled with rage, yet they concealed their cunning purpose under a calm and peaceful exterior and then entered the place. Turning to Agnes – for they had now given up all hopes concerning Clare – they said: “Why did you come to this place? Get ready at once, to return home with us.” When she answered that she was resolved never to leave Clare, one of the Knights, unable to contain his fury any longer, rushed upon her and brutally assailed her with blows and kicks, and then seizing her by the hair, began to crag her away. The others had, meanwhile, ran toward to assist their companion, lifting her up in their arms to carry her away. Agnes, finding herself seized, as it were, by savage beasts, and snatched away from the embrace of her Divine Lord, loudly called upon Clare, saying: “Help me, my dearest sister, and do not permit me to be separated from my Lord!” Her captors were still dragging her down the slope of the hill, Agnes resister with all her might. Her garments had been torn to pieces and her hair was scattered about in handfuls. Clare had meanwhile fallen on her knees, beseeching her Divine Lord with tears in her eyes, to endow her sister's soul with fortitude and to bring to naught the attempts of men by His Almighty Power.

Suddenly the body of Agnes became so firmly rooted to the ground and so heavy, that all of them with their united efforts could not carry her over a little brook they had to cross. They asked a number of men who were engaged in the vineyards and in the fields close by to help them. But even they could not raise the body in the least. Seeing themselves baffled in their attempt, some of them treated the evident miracle in a scoffing fashion, saying: “She must have been eating lead all night; no wonder she is so heavy/” But when one of her uncles, Count Monaldo, in his rage, drew his poignard to stab her, the hand which held the weapon was seized with a most acute pain which troubled him for a good while after. At this conjuncture, Clare appeared upon the scene of conflict and begged her kinsfolk to desist from all further attempts, and to leave Agnes, who lay there half dead to her care. And while they, with bitterness in their hearts, walked away without having accomplished their purpose, Agnes rose up full of joy, and glorying in the cross of Christ for Whom she had fought this first battle, she now devoted herself forever to His Divine service. Blessed Francis cut off her hair with his own hands and instructed her along with her sister in the way of the Lord. Fining it impossible to describe, in a few words, the great perfection to which she attained we will return to Clare.

No one need wonder that Clare's prayers were so powerful against the malice of men, since they vexed ever the demons of hell. A devout woman from the diocese of Pisa came, one day, to the Monastery to thank God and S, Clare, that through her merits, she had been freed from five evil spirits. For when the devils were being expelled from her,  they declared that the prayers of S. Clare fearfully tormented them and caused them to leave the bodies of the possessed.

It is not without cause that the Lord Pope Gregory [IX] had great faith in the prayers of the Saint, since he often experienced their wonderful power and efficacy. For frequently, whenever any great difficulty arose – as it happened in the course of events –both while her was the Bishop of Ostia and even afterwards when raised to the See of Peter, he would recommend himself by letter to her prayers, and was always wonderfully assisted. Neither is it astonishing that the Vicar of Christ should implore the aid of a handmaid of Christ and commend himself to her virtues. It, at once, betokens his humility and demands our imitation. For he well knew what love can do and how freely pure virgins have access to the council chambers of the Heavenly King. For if the King of Heaven gives Himself to them that love Him, what is there He will refuse to their prayers?   (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 54-57.)

Yes, our relatives and friends might try all kind of emotional blackmail to drag us back into the world.

"Come on, why do you want to be so different?'

"What's wrong with you? Why do you want to be such a stick in the mud? You just consider yourself to better than us, don't you?"

"Don't you want to have some fun in life?"

Where is our courage in the face of family opposition and/or rejection because we will not celebrate the world with them—or to join with them in being “una cum Francisco” despite his heresies, apostasies, blasphemies, and sacrileges?

Where is our courage when we stand without compromise for the Social Reign of Christ the King and reject worldly schemes that are supposed to turn back the tide of evil in the world when they wind only wind up time and time and time again with increasing of the level of evil that “good people” are willing to tolerate?

More to the point, though, is the fact that we permit ourselves to be drawn back into the world and its false allurements far more readily than we would like to admit. We do not need to have relatives or friends attempt to use emotional violence to succumb to just a "little" compromise with things that, although perhaps not sinful in themselves, immerse us inordinately into a preoccupation that takes us away from our First Cause and our Last End. It is far too easy to waste one's time in "leisure" activity" while forgetting our duty to pray.

How may prayers, especially Rosaries, go unsaid because Catholics waste their time listening to the babbling idiots of naturalism on the radio or watching them on television?

How much spiritual spritual and devotional reading goes unread because of a desire to watch a sports event (and this is coming from one who spent a lot of years going to baseball games before walking out for good on July 16, 2002).

Why do we deceive ourselves into thinking that the ways of the world can be reconciled in any way with living of life that is pleasing to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself to us through His true Church?

To be sure, those whom God has blessed with an abundance of the means of this world as a result of their honest labor, intellectual talents or even by inheritance are thereby condemned. Many of those who spend their days in material poverty dream of nothing other than being wealthy while many of those who have material wealth are detached from their money and goods, recognizing that all is a gratuitous gift of God which He could take away without any notice whatsoever. One can have the spirit of Holy Poverty without being materially poor, but to be spiritually poor one must seek to avoid contamination by the world and careless immersion in even its legitimate pleasures, to say nothing of illicit activities that profit only the merchants of sin who traffic in corrupting men and their nations.  

This is a point that Pope Leo XIII made in Rerum Novarum May 15, 1891:

But the Church, with Jesus Christ as her Master and Guide, aims higher still. She lays down precepts yet more perfect, and tries to bind class to class in friendliness and good feeling. The things of earth cannot be understood or valued aright without taking into consideration the life to come, the life that will know no death. Exclude the idea of futurity, and forthwith the very notion of what is good and right would perish; nay, the whole scheme of the universe would become a dark and unfathomable mystery. The great truth which we learn from nature herself is also the grand Christian dogma on which religion rests as on its foundation -- that, when we have given up this present life, then shall we really begin to live. God has not created us for the perishable and transitory things of earth, but for things heavenly and everlasting; He has given us this world as a place of exile, and not as our abiding place. As for riches and the other things which men call good and desirable, whether we have them in abundance, or are lacking in them -- so far as eternal happiness is concerned -- it makes no difference; the only important thing is to use them aright. Jesus Christ, when He redeemed us with plentiful redemption, took not away the pains and sorrows which in such large proportion are woven together in the web of our mortal life. He transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit; and no man can hope for eternal reward unless he follow in the blood-stained footprints of his Savior. "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." Christ's labors and sufferings, accepted of His own free will, have marvelously sweetened all suffering and all labor. And not only by His example, but by His grace and by the hope held forth of everlasting recompense, has He made pain and grief more easy to endure; "for that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."

Therefore, those whom fortune favors are warned that riches do not bring freedom from sorrow and are of no avail for eternal happiness, but rather are obstacles; that the rich should tremble at the threatenings of Jesus Christ -- threatenings so unwonted in the mouth of our Lord -- and that a most strict account must be given to the Supreme Judge for all we possess. The chief and most excellent rule for the right use of money is one the heathen philosophers hinted at, but which the Church has traced out clearly, and has not only made known to men's minds, but has impressed upon their lives. It rests on the principle that it is one thing to have a right to the possession of money and another to have a right to use money as one ills. Private ownership, as we have seen, is the natural right of man, and to exercise that right, especially as members of society, is not only lawful, but absolutely necessary. "It is lawful," says St. Thomas Aquinas, "for a man to hold private property; and it is also necessary for the carrying on of human existence.'' But if the question be asked: How must one's possessions be used? -- the Church replies without hesitation in he words of the same holy Doctor: "Man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. Whence the apostle saith, 'Command the rich of this world . . to offer with no stint, to apportion largely'." True, no one is commanded to distribute to others that which is required for his own needs and those of his household; nor even to give away what is reasonably required to keep up becomingly his condition in life, "for no one ought to live other than becomingly." But, when what necessity demands has been supplied, and one's standing fairly taken thought for, it becomes a duty to give to the indigent out of what remains over. "Of that which remaineth, give alms." It is duty, not of justice (save in extreme cases), but of Christian charity -- a duty not enforced by human law. But the laws and judgments of men must yield place to the laws and judgments of Christ the true God, who in many ways urges on His followers the practice of almsgiving -- "It is more blessed to give than to receive"; and who will count a kindness done or refused to the poor as done or refused to Himself -- "As long as you did it to one of My least brethren you did it to Me. "To sum up, then, what has been said: Whoever has received from the divine bounty a large share of temporal blessings, whether they be external and material, or gifts of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for the perfecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may employ them, as the steward of God's providence, for the benefit of others. "He that hath a talent," said St. Gregory the Great, "let him see that he hide it not; he that hath abundance, let him quicken himself to mercy and generosity; he that hath art and skill, let him do his best to share the use and the utility hereof with his neighbor."

As for those who possess not the gifts of fortune, they are taught by the Church that in God's sight poverty is no disgrace, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of in earning their bread by labor. This is enforced by what we see in Christ Himself, who, "whereas He was rich, for our sakes became poor''; and who, being the Son of God, and God Himself, chose to seem and to be considered the son of a carpenter -- nay, did not disdain to spend a great part of His life as a carpenter Himself. "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?"

From contemplation of this divine Model, it is more easy to understand that the true worth and nobility of man lie in his moral qualities, that is, in virtue; that virtue is, moreover, the common inheritance of men, equally within the reach of high and low, rich and poor; and that virtue, and virtue alone, wherever found, will be followed by the rewards of everlasting happiness. Nay, God Himself seems to incline rather to those who suffer misfortune; for Jesus Christ calls the poor "blessed"; He lovingly invites those in labor and grief to come to Him for solace; and He displays the tenderest charity toward the lowly and the oppressed. These reflections cannot fail to keep down the pride of the well-to-do, and to give heart to the unfortunate; to move the former to be generous and the latter to be moderate in their desires. Thus, the separation which pride would set up tends to disappear, nor will it be difficult to make rich and poor join hands in friendly concord.

But, if Christian precepts prevail, the respective classes will not only be united in the bonds of friendship, but also in those of brotherly love. For they will understand and feel that all men are children of the same common Father, who is God; that all have alike the same last end, which is God Himself, who alone can make either men or angels absolutely and perfectly happy; that each and all are redeemed and made sons of God, by Jesus Christ, "the first-born among many brethren"; that the blessings of nature and the gifts of grace belong to the whole human race in common, and that from none except the unworthy is withheld the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven. "If sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and co-heirs with Christ." (Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, May 15, 1891.)

In other words, both the wealthy and the poor must store up for themselves treasures in Heaven, which is what Saint Clare of Assisi did in abundance as she forsook the world and all of her family's wealth, desiring only the glories of Heaven to the vanities and frivolities of this passing, mortal vale of tears.

Saint Clare's work bore remarkable--neigh well, miraculous!--fruit in a short period of time as nobility from all the lands of Europe soon clamored to join her in her embrace of Lady Poverty. One of these was Blessed Agnes of Prague, who was beatified in 1874 by Pope Pius IX:

The Order in Bohemia

Bohemia has preserved the most precious documents which attest the apostolic zeal and loving solicitude of the holy Abbess of Assisi. These documents are addressed to B. Agnes, who was instrumental in establishing the Order in Bohemia. We must pay a passing tribute to her singularly interesting and holy life.

Agnes was born at Prague about the year 1200, the exact date being unknown. Her father was Primislas, King of Poland; and her mother was Constance, sister of Andrew II., King of Hungary, and aunt of S. Elizabeth of Hungary.

At the age of three, Agnes was betrothed to Boleslas, the son of Henry, Duke of Silesia, and of S. Hegwige, and was, according to the custom of those days, sent to the court of the young Prince of Silesia. Here her education was confided to the Cistercian Nuns of the Monastery of Trebnitz.  Shortly afterwards, S. Hedwige, being left a widow, retired to the same monastery, and took charge of the young princess. Prince Henry, however, died, three years later; and Agnes was taken back to Bohemia and placed with the Nuns of the Premonstratensian Order at Doxane.

Not long afterwards, the German Emperor, Frederic II, sent a solemn embassy to Bohemia and sued for the hand of Agnes on behalf of his son, Prince Henry. In consequence of this, Agnes was sent to the court of Leopold, Duke of Austria, to learn the language and customs of the Germans. But God had other designs in her regard. Being enlightened internally by the Divine Spirit, she took greater pains to advance in the Science of the Saints than in the knowledge and acquirements befitting the rank for which she was destined. The brilliant career before her had no charms whatever. She longer for prayer and solitude, and besought God in secret of her heart to be enabled to consecrate to Him her virginity. Her prayer was answered. Prince Henry married the daughter of Leopold, and Agnes was free once more to return home.

But her another trial was in store for her. The Emperor Frederic himself, having become a widower by the death of Yolanda, demanded the hand of Agnes. Yet Agnes was not discouraged. She merely increase her prayers and penances. At length, the time fixed for the marriage approached, and Frederic sent an embassy to conduct his affianced bride to the imperial court. In this difficulty Agnes privately appealed to the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory IX, to whom she made known her ardent longing and implored him to use his authority to prevent a marriage, to which she had never given her consent. The Pope sent a special Nuncio to Bohemia to take the holy Princess under his protection.

When the Emperor was informed of the state of affairs, he was at first, highly incensed at her refusal, yet he calmed down soon and released Agnes from any obligation she might have contracted. He even praised her firmness and uttered these memorable words: “Had she left me for a mortal man, I would know how to avenge myself with the sword. But I can take no offense when she prefers to me the King of Heaven.” These were noble words coming from a generous heart, inspired by faith. What a pity that such a man allowed himself to be carried away by a tyrannous ambition which brought him to a miserable end.

Agnes was at length free to give herself wholly to God; and she hastened to be admitted into the monastery she had already founded in the city of Prague for the daughters of S. Clare. She received the holy habit from the hands of the Apostolic Nuncio, in the presence of the royal family and the nobles of Bohemia. This took place on Pentecost Sunday, in the year 1236.

In the life of Agnes was admirable in the world, it became still more so in the cloister. It suffices to says that she edified all by her eminent and heroic virtues. God was pleased to endow her with the gift of miracles and prophecy. She died March 6^th, 1280 being about eighty years of age. (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 124-126.)

Blesssed Agnes of Prague (Bohemia) had been inspired by the holy example of self-abnegation that had been set by Saint Clare of Assisi. Even the wicked Frederick II, who hired the Saracen mercenaries to attack the Papal States—yes, the  same Saracen mercenaries who fled in fright as Saint Clare of Assisi held Our Blesssed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's Real Presence aloft in a monstrace as they approached her convent in Assisi, had to express admiration at the resolve that Blessed Agnes demonstrated in refusing him for the King of Heaven and Earth, Christ the King.

Saint Clare penned two letters to Blessed Agnes to encourge her in her rejection of the world as she embraced the life of Holy Poverty that was the special vocation given by God to the "Little Man Dressed in Brown," Saint Francis of Assisi himself, who patterned his life after that of the Divine Redeemer Himself whilst He walked on the face of this earth:

To the Noble and Venerable Virgin Agnes, Daughter of the powerful and invincible King of Bohemia.

Clare, the lowly hand-maid of Christ, and servant of the Virgins, consecrated to God, in the Monastery of San Damiano, renders homage in the Lord, and desires for her, with all respect and ardor, the glory of eternal felicity.

The fame of your virtues, already known almost throughout the world, has reached us, most noble Princess, and we rejoice therat greatly in the Lord; not only we ourselves, but all those who are anxious to do the will of God and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is true then that you have trample under foot the most brilliant honors, the most enviable glory of the world, even the throne of the august Emperor to who you might have become allied, as became both you and his majesty, and that you have embraced, with your whole soul and with intense desire, Holy Poverty, the subduing of the flesh, and the lowly estate of our Divine Redeemer, Whom you have chosen for your inheritance. Have confidence! God will enable you by his grace, to preserve intact the priceless treasure of virginity. His power is above all other power; His amiability transcends that of any other being; His beauty casts into shade whatever is most beautiful. His love satisfies all desires, and is worth more than all earthly delight.

How happy you are, therefore, to have been chosen by this divine Bridegroom, Who in the style of the language of Sacred Scripture, has adorned your neck with precious stones, your ears with rings of inestimable value, your breast with cincture of purest gold, your brow with dazzling crown, marked with the seal of holiness. Therefore, my dearest Sister, or rather reverend Lady, since you are, at once, the Spouse, Sister, and Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, be proud to walk under the noble banner of inviolate virginity and Holy Poverty, the which you have chosen for your sovereign mistress. [St. Francis was wont to call Holy Poverty his sovereign lady and mistress]  continue to walk, with all fervor, on the road upon which you have entered with so much courage, and persevere in imitating the virtues of Him Who, for love of us, was born in poverty, live in poverty, and died in poverty upon a cross under the most fearful torments, in order to set us free from the slavery of the Prince of Darkness and reconcile us to His heavenly Father.

O blessed Poverty, to which is promised the Kingdom of heaven and glory everlasting! O blessed Poverty, which givest to those that love and embrace thee such priceless goods and a life so happy and so free to all unrest! O amiable Poverty, which hast been loved so especially and so tenderly,  and hast been embraced so fondly by our Lord Who has created all things by one word of His mouth, Who has governed them, and will govern them, all days with Sovereign Power! He Himself assures us: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air, nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head,” [Math. VIII, 20] And in truth, from the day on which the Divine Lord descended into the womb of a pure Virgin to unite Himself to our humanity, He was made poor and needy, so that men, who were poor and needy in heavenly goods, might be made rich with the treasures of His grace and possess the Kingdom of heaven.

Since then, the only Son of God would not rest His bleeding Head except upon a cross, should not you, my daughter, exult with gladness and rejoice in spirit, because you have preferred the contempt of this world to its honors, poverty to riches, and the treasures of heaven to those of earth! Yes, I have no need to remind you of what you believe so firmly, that the Kingdom of heaven is promised to the poor, and that the poor alone shall possess it. You know that, when we we love the things of this earth, we lose  the fruit of Divine love, and that we cannot sserve two masters, at one and the same time, without displeasing either the one or the other. You know that he, who is impeded by his garments, cannot enter upon a combat with one who is naked; and that we cannot hope to fight successfully without stripping ourselves entirely; and that earthy adornments are only means in the hands of our enemy to lay hold on us more easily. Yes, my Sister, it is difficult to live in luxury in this world to reign with Christ in the the other. “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” [Matt. XIX,24]  You have, therefore, done well to cast aside these superfluous garments, that, the goods of this earth. You will now be able to overcome all the more easily its attacks. You have been wise and prudent to enter upon the narrow road which leads to glory. O happy exchange! To leave the goods of time for those of eternity, to merit the things of heaven by sacrificing the things of earth, to obtain a hundredfold, and life everlasting: – this is a transaction, worthy of all praise, and a token of most perfect prudence. Hence I entreat your Highness, in the bonds of Jesus Christ, to remain faithful in the service of the great King. Ever increase in all goodness; advance from virtue to virtue, so that He, Whom you have followed, with the utmost intensity of your soul, may be pleased to overwhelm you with the abundance of His Divine favors.

I also beg of you, in the Lord, to be mindful of me, your unworthy handmaid, and of the other devoted Sisters who live with me in this monastery. Be pleased to recommend us to our dear Lord in your holy prayers, so that, aided by His merits, we may obtain the mercy of Jesus Christ and be found worthy to enjoy with Him everlasting happiness.

Farewell in the Lord, and pray for me. Alleluia.

B. Agnes had asked S. Clare for a personal keepsake. In answer to this request, she sent her, along with this second letter, a wooden cross, a rough cincture, a coarse veil of canvas, and the earthenware bowl out of which she used to drink. These objects were treasured by B. Agnes as precious relics, and when Clare had been canonized, she caused them, through the medium of her brother, King Wenceslas, to be encased in godl and silver, and ordered them to be always kept, with great reverence, in the Monastery of Prague. Miracle are said to have been wrought through their instrumentality.

Second letter of S. Clare to B. Agnes.

To Agnes, the Daughter of the King of Kings, a Queen among Virgins, to a wothy Souse of Jesus Christ, through union with Whom she has, in truth, been made Queen.

Clare, an unworthy and unprofitable servant of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano.

Health and the happiness ever to live in utmost Poverty.

Thanks be to God, the Author of all good, the Source of every perfection and heavenly gift for having embellished your soul with so many virtues! He it is Who has sanctified you in every way, and raised you to such a degree of purity that His eyes can find in you no imperfections which might offend Him. Happy are you; for this holiness will move the Heavenly King to unite Himself to you in perpetual joy in that resplendent abode of His, where He is seated upon his starry throne. You have despised the grandeurs of an earthly kingdom; you have disdained the glory of a princely marriage; and, being carried away by the unspeakable delights of holy Poverty, you have solemnly engaged yourself to walk, with joy and love, in the footprints of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are truly worthy of that union to which you aspire. Knowing that your heart is the sanctuary of Christian virtues, I will not weary you with a long discourse, though you will find, perhaps, nothing superfluous in words which fill our souls with spiritual comfort. I will remind you of but one thing, since it is so necessary, and that is the obligation of persevering in the good resolutions with which God has inspired us by His grace.

I exhort you, therefore, for love of Him to Whom you have offered yourself as a sacrifice of sweet odor, ever to be mindful of your vocation, and, like another Rachel, to look back upon the beginning, that is, to consider in your heart what you were in those happy days when you first renounced the world. Preserve what you already hold. Do what you have to do. Never stop in the spiritual course upon which you have entered. March ahead with a lively step, and without stopping to rest, lest you should be tanrished with the dust of earthly things. Ever keep yourself in the calm and joy of a good conscience, and andvance upon this blessed road, without ever yielding to anything that would turn you aside from you good resolutions and place an obstacke to your onward course. Constantly tend to that perfection to which the Holy Ghost has called you, so that you may offer to the Most High, without ceasing, the vows acceptable in His sight, and that you may obey, with every greater fidelity, the commandments of our Lord, and the counself our our Father, Friar Elias, Minister Gerneral of our Order. Have the firm resolution to prefer his counsels to all others; look upon his directions as a precious treasure. Should anyone insinuate to you anything, contrary to your perfection and holy vocation, give it no heed, even though you should thereby be enabled to obtain honors and goods that would lift you up above all men. This is not the thing after which you must aspire. Live in poverty; hold fast to Jesus, Who made Himself so poor; consider the humiliations, which He embraced for your sake. And follow Him, so that, if needs be, you become for His sake, an object of contempt in the eyes of the world. Your heavenly Bridegroom is “beautiful in form above the sones of men;” [Psalm XLIV.,3]  and yet, He became “the reproach of men and the outcast of the people.” [Psalm XXI.,7]  He permitted his body to be torn by scourges, and He breathed forth His Spirit amidst the most frightful agonies upon a cross. Should you not, therefore, noble Queen, feel yourself inflamed with an ardent longing to imitate Him? If you suffer with Him, you shall also be glorified with Him. If you remain with Him fastened to the cross, you will also taste with Him the sweetness of heaven to be enjoyed in the light of the Saints. Your name will be written in the Book of Life, and shall shine throughout all eternity. In exchange for the perishable goods of this earth, you will obtain treasures that will last forever; and, by bearing now a few sufferings, you will merit eternal happiness.

Farewell, my dearest Sister, Virgin ever-blessed of your Bridegroom! My Sisters and myself who rejoice at the good things with which God has so abundantly blessed you, place a lively confidence in you holy prayers. Do you, therefore, along with your Sisters, recommend us, in your charity, most earnestly to God, our Lord. (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 126-131.)

The devil wants us to live in agitation and fear, causing us to think that mere mortals are more powerful than God Himself, who permits sinful men with evil schemes to come to civil power to chastise us even though they know nothing of how they are being used nor what sort of foul end awaits them if they do not repent and, if non-Catholics, do not convert to the true Faith before they die.

We need to live in peace—in the peace of the Divine Redeemer—as we keep ever close to His Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, especially by praying as many Rosaries each day as our state-in-life permits. We need to live in the peace that was known by Saint Francis, Saint Clare, and Blessed Agnes, among so many others, who did not let the disturbances of the world interfere with the peace generated by their longing for Heaven and their knowledge that, while we pray for the conversion of evil-doers, starting with ourselves(!), we must accept whatever chastisements that come our way with joy, love, gratitude and complete resignation to the Holy Will of God. Countless millions of martyrs have preferred death to compromise on any point of the Faith or to accommodate pagan, heretical or apostate potentates who attempted to use the fear of the loss of material wealth, physical freedom, torture, and death to dissuade them from their uncompromising resolve to defend the Catholic Faith as the only foundation of personal salvation and hence of all social order.

Pope Alexander IV heralded the peace of the Divine Redeemer that belonged to the radiant soul of Saint Clare of Assisi in his Papal Bull for the Canonization of Saint Clare of Assisi on September 26, 1255:

[Alexander, Bishop, Servant of the servants of God,] To Our venerable brothers, the Archbishops and Bishops established throughout the Kingdom of France, [health and apostolic benediction]: 

Clare outstandingly clear with clear merits, in Heaven with the clarity of great glory, and on Earth with the splendor of sublime miracles, is clearly clear. Here this Clare's strict and high Religion twinkles [coruscat], above the greatness of this one’s eternal reward radiates, this one’s virtue by magnificent signs, begins to shine [illucescit] upon mortals. To this Clare there was entitled here the Privilege of most high poverty; to this one there is repaid in the highest an inestimable abundance of treasures; to this one by Catholics a full devotion and a heap [cumulus] of honor is exhibited. This Clare did her shining [fulgida] works here mark out, this Clare the plenitude of Divine Light on high does clarify, this one to the Christian peoples do the stupendous (works) of her prodigies declare. 

The Brilliance of St. Clare

§2. O Clare, endowed in a manifold manner with titles of clarity! Before thy conversion (thou were) indeed clear, in thy conversion clearer, in thy comportment in the cloister [in claustrali conversatione] outstandingly clear, and after having run down the space of thy present life thou has begun to shine as most clear! By this Clare a clear mirror of example goes forth to this generation [saeculo]; by this one the lily of virginity is offered among the heavenly amenities; by this one throughout the lands [in terris] are the manifest remedies of interventions [subventionum] sensed. O clarity of blessed Clare to be admired, which as much as it is sought more studiously through individual examples [per singula], so much more splendid is it found among individual examples [in singulis]! This one gleamed [emicuit], I say, in the world [saeculo], in Religion she outshone [praefulsit]; in her house she enlightened [illuxit] as a ray, in the cloister she flashed [pcoruscavit] as lightning. She gleamed in life, after death she irradiates; she was clear on Earth, in the sky she shines back [relucet]! O how great the vehemence of the light [lumen] of this one and how vehement the illumination of this clarity of hers! This light [lux], indeed, remained enclosed in secret cloisters, and outside it emitted sparkling [micantes] rays; it was gathered together in a strict convent [arcto coenobio], and it was sprinkled upon the entire age [in amplo saeculo]; it was guarded within, and it flowed forth outside. For indeed, Clare lay hidden, but her life lay open; Clare was silent, but her fame shouted out; she was concealed in her cell and she was known among cities. Nor (is it) wonderful; because a light [lucerna] so enkindled, so lightsome [lucens], could not be hidden away so as to not shine [spenderet] and give a clear light in the house of the Lord; nor could a vessel of so many aromatics be put back and not fragrance and resprinkle the Lord's mansion with a sweet odor. Nay, since in the narrow recluse of solitude this one harshly ground down the alabaster of her body, the whole court [aula] of the Church has been filled full in every manner with the odors of her sanctity. 

How St. Clare forsook the world

§3. In a healthy manner, when she, while she was still a girl in the world, studied to leap over this fragile and unclean world from a tender age by means of a clean, narrow path [calle], and guarding the precious treasure of her virginity by a sense of shame, always unspotted, vigilantly stretched unto works of clarity and piety, so much that there came forth from her a pleasing and praiseworthy report [fama] to her neighbors and others, blessed Francis, having heard the public commendation [praeconio] of her fame, undertook with complete haste [confestim] to exhort her, and to induce her to the perfect service of Christ. Who, thereupon adhering to his sacred warnings, and desiring to abdicate thoroughly [penitus] the world with all earthly things, and to serve as a family member [famulari] the Lord alone in voluntary poverty, she fulfilled this her fervent desire, as soon as she could: because at last she distributed and converted all her goods, as she counted out of reverence to Christ whatever else she had as one thing with herself, into alms and subsidies for the poor;And when fleeing the clatter of the world [de saeculi strepitu], she went down to a certain country [campestrem] church,and by blessed Francis himself, there received the sacred tonsure, she processed to another church), with her relatives growing soft [molientibus] to lead her back (home) from that place, she, immediately embracing the altar, and grasping her clothes, having uncovered the sheering [incisura] of the hair of her head, strongly and steadily resisted the same relatives in this. Then when she had been brought by the same blessed Francis to the church of San Damiano, outside the city of Assisi, where she was born [unde traxit originem], there the Lord for the love and assiduous cult of His Name gathered to her very many associates. 

St. Clare founds the Order of St. Damiano

§4. From this, indeed, distinguished and sacred Order of San Damiano, spread far throughout the whole globe, one takes up a salutary exordium. She, by the exhorting of blessed Francis himself, gave a start, that must be followed, [sequendum initium] to this new and holy observance; she of this great Religion was the primary and stable foundation; she of this high work stood fortj as its primitive stone. She of a noble family, but of a more noble comportment, conserved in an outstanding manner [praecipue] the virginity, which she had also previously guarded, under this rule of sanctimony. After a while her mother, Hortulana by name, intent on pious works, by following the footsteps of her own newborn [ipsius natae], devoutly undertook this Religion; in which at last this optimum little garden [hortulana], which brought forth such a plant in the Lord's garden, happily concluded her days.  

The Brilliance of St. Clare as Foundress 

§5. But after a few years, blessed Clare herself, having been overcome by the exceeding importunity of the same St. Francis, received the government of the monastery and the Sisters. She, indeed, was the tall and eminent tree, which, having spread out with long branches, brought into the field of the Church the sweet fruit of a Religion, and to whose delightful shade, under its amenity there would run together from all sides many nurslings of the faith, (who) were to offer fruit of this kind, and do they run! She was the clean vein of the Valley of Spoleto, which gave a new fount of living water as drink for the refection and convenience of souls; which, diverted now through diverse rivulets in the territory of the Church, infuses the young trees [plantaria] of Religion. She was the tall candelabra of sanctity vehemently shining red [rutilans] in the tabernacle of the Lord,^, to whose vast [ingentem] splendor very many women hastened and do hasten, enkindling their own lamps from that light [lumine]. She as a result [profecto] planted and cultivated in the field of the Faith the vine of poverty, from which the fatty and rich fruits of salvation are gathered; she established in the praesidium of the Church a garden of humility, in which, having twined together those poor in a manifold of things, there is found a great abundance of virtues; She in the occupation [districtu] of Religion constructed [fabricavit] a citadel of strict abstinence, in which there is ministered a broad refection of spiritual nourishment. 

The Brilliance of St. Clare's Virtues

§6. She was the princess [primiceris] of the poor, the duchess [ducissa] of the humble, the teacher of the continent, and the Abbess of the penitent. She governed her monastery, and the family entrusted to her in it, solicitly and prudently in the fear and service of the Lord and in the full observance of the Order: vigil in care, in ministry studious, in exhortation attentive; diligent in admonition, in correction moderate, temperate in precepts; in compassion outstanding, discrete in silence, in speech mature, and well considered in all the things opportune to a perfect government, willing more to serve as a family member [famulari] than to rule as a lord [dominari], and to honor than to be taken up in honor. Her life was an education [eruditio] and a doctrine to others. In this book of life all the other (sisters) learned the rule for living; in this mirror of life the rest (of women learn) to inspect the paths to life. For indeed she caused herself in body to stand on Earth, but in spirit she was turned unto the sky; a little vessel of humility, an armoire [armarium] of chastity, an ardor of charity, a sweetness of benignity, an oak-strength of patience, a knot of peace and a communion of familiarity: meek in work, supple in deed, and in all things lovable and accepted. And, with the flesh depressed, to convalesce in spirit — because anyone, with their enemy debilitated, is made the stronger — she kept [habebat] the floor bare and brushwood for a bed, and for a pillow under her head hard wood, and content with one tunic with a mantle of vile, despised and rough cloth. These humble garments did she use for the covering of her body, a sharp cilice woven from little cords of horse hair [de cordulis crinium equorum] sometimes employed next to the flesh. Strict too in food and in drink severe [districta], she curbed herself with so great an abstinence in these, that for a long time for three days a week, namely, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she tasted nearly nothing for her body, nevertheless on the rest of the days restricting herself to such an extent with a paucity of foods, that the other (sisters) use to wonder about her, in what manner she could subsist under so strong a withdrawal [districtione]. Over and above these, dedicated assiduously to vigils and prayers, she expended day and night-time chiefly in these. At last perplexed with daily languors, when she could not rise by herself to corporal exertion [exercitium], she was raised by the suffrage of her Sisters and, having placed supports at her back, she worked with her own hands, lest even in her infirmities she be idle [otiosa]. Whence from linen cloth of this her own study and labor, she caused very many corporals for the Sacrifice of the Altar to be made, and to be employed throughout the plains and mountains of Assisi in diverse churches. 

St. Clare's love of holy Poverty

§7. But a chief lover and sedulous column of poverty; thus did she affix it in her soul, thus did she bind herself to it in her desires, that always more firmer in its love [dilectione] and more ardent in its embrace, from its severe and delightful bond she never stepped back for any necessity. Nor could she in a straightforward manner [prorsus] be induced by any persuasions to consent, that her monastery have its own possessions, even though Pope Gregory, our predecessor of happy memory, from much indulgence thinking piously of this very monastery, had freely willed to depute to it, for the sustenance of her Sisters, possessions sufficient and congruous. 

The Miracles of St. Clare

§8. Truly, because a great and splendid window cannot be concealed [luminare supprimi], and not bring forth the rays of its clarity, even in her life did the virtue of her sanctity shine out in many and various miracles. For to a certain one of the Sisters of her monastery, she restored the voice, which she had for a long time almost entirely lost. To another, thoroughly destitute of the use [officio] of the tongue, she restored unencumbered [expeditam] speech. To another she opened a deaf ear to hearing. Having made the sign of the Cross upon them, she liberated one laboring under fever, one swelling with hydropsy, one plagued with a fistula and others oppressed by languors. A certain friar of the Order of Minors she healed from the suffering of insanity. Moreover when at a certain time [quadam vice] the olive oil in the monastery totally failed, she herself, having called the Friar who has been deputed to the same monastery for the gathering of alms, accepted a jug [urceum] and washed it, and placed it empty next to the doors [fores] of the monastery, so that the same Friar might bear it off for acquiring olive oil; who when he wanted to take it, found it filled with oil, by the benefice of a divine largess. Again, when one day not but one half of a loaf of bread was had in the monastery for the refection of the Sisters, she herself ordered the same half-loaf to be divided in vain and dispensed to the Sisters; which among the hands of the one breaking it, He who is the Living Bread and who gives food to those who are hungry, multiplied it unto so much, that there was made from it portions sufficient for fifty, and it was distributed for the Sisters reclining at table [discumbentibus]. Through these and other conspicuous signs, He marked out, while she still lived, the pre-eminence of her merits. For even when she was in her last moments [in extremis ageret], the brilliant white company of blessed Virgins, ornamented with sparkling crowns, among whom one of them appeared more eminently and more shiningly, was seen to enter the house, where the same family of Christ use to recline at table, and even unto her small bed [lectulum] to proceed, and as if to exhibit about her the office of visiting and the solace of comforting, with a certain zeal for human kindness [humanitatis studio]. 

But after her passing, a certain man, who having fallen sick grew worse [morbo caduco ruebat] and on account of a contracted shin bone could not walk, was brought to her sepulchre: there, with the shin bone itself making a sound as if of breaking, he was cured of each infirmity. Those bent-over at the kidneys, contracted in members, quick to fall headlong into a rage and wild men, demented by fury, received in that place a complete cure [integram sospitatem]. A certain man’s own right hand — the very use of which he had thus lost out of a vehement percussion brought upon him — because he could do entirely nothing by means of it, just as if it were, in a word, useless, was reformed in a full manner to its pristine acting, by the merits of the Saint herself. Another, who by a long-termed [diutina] blindness has lost the light of his eyes, when he had approached the same sepulchre under the guiding [ducatu] of another, having recovered his sight in that place, returned from that place without a guide [duce]. In these and how very many other works and glorious miracles is this venerable Virgin resplendent, so that there evidently appears fulfilled that which her very own mother, while she was pregnant with her and was praying, is said to have heard: that she was going to bear a certain light [lumen], which would light up the globe in very many ways [orbem plurimum illustraret]. 

The Act of Canonization

§9. And so, let Mother Church rejoice, that She has born and educated such a daughter, who as a parent fecund with virtues, has produced many nurselings of (this) Religion as Her own examples, and has informed them to the perfect service of Christ by Her full magisterium. Let the devout crowd of the faithful also be glad, that the King of Heaven and (their) Lord, has introduced their sister and companion, whom He had chosen as His own spouse, to His palace, outstandingly excelling [praecelsus] and outstandingly clear with glory. For the marching armies [agmina] of the Saints rejoice also together, that in their supernal fatherland the nuptials of a new royal spouse are celebrated. All the rest, because it is fitting as, she whom the Lord has exalted in the sky, the Catholic Church venerate on Earth, that from the sanctity and miracles of her life, having been reviewed [praemisssis] by a diligent and attentive inquisition and a distinct examination and a solemn discussion, She plainly establish: even though otherwise, both in near and in remote parts, they would also be sufficient beforehand; her acts having been lucidly known: We from the common counsel and assent of our brother (Cardinals) and of all prelates, at that time present at the Apostolic See, having drawn confidence [confisi] from the Divine Omnipotence, by the authority of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and Our own, we direct that the same is to inscribed in the catalogue of holy Virgins. 

The Feast of St. Clare

§10. And for that reason we warn and exhort all of you attentively through apostolic mandates written by Us, to this extent that on the second day before the Ides of August you celebrate devoutly and solemnly the feast of the same Virgin and cause it to be celebrated by your subjects in a venerable manner, so that you may merit to have her before God as your pious and sedulous adjutrix. And so that the multitude of the Christian people might flow to venerate her sepulchre in a more avid and copious manner, her festivity be also thoroughly honored with greater crowds [celebrius percolatur], to all [truly penitent and confessed], who come to it with reverence on the feast of the same Virgin, and/or who might even approach yearly during the octave days of her feast, having confided humbly in her suffrages, We do, by the mercy of the Omnipotent God and by the authority of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, loosen them one year and forty days [from the penances enjoined upon them]. 

[Given at Anagni, the sixth day before the Calends of October, in the first year of our pontificate.] (As found at Saint Clare of Assisi, bottom of page.)

Saint Francis of Assisi gave instructions to his co-worker, Saint Clare of Assisi, and her Poor Ladies, that we must take to heart ourselves:

The Example of Saint Francis   

It is related that when after an unusually long absence, he once more presented himself at San Damiano to edify and comfort the Sisters by a salutary exhortation, he notice in their outward behavior evident sign of the joy and consolation they felt at seeing once more the face of their beloved father and master. This would seem to be perfectly natural. Yet Francis thought they deserved a lesson. He, therefore, went to kneel before the altar and began to pray silently. After a little while, he ordered ashes to be brought to him. Having strewn the ashes in a circle upon the ground, he knelt within the centre, and again began to pray without saying a word. The joy which the Sisters had, at first, experienced, soon yielded to fear and trembling. Francis remained on his knees for some time. He then arose and turning towards the Sisters, he said to the: Let us all kneel down and recite the Psalm “Miserere.” And kneeling down again, he intoned the Psalm in a tone of deep sorrow and compunction. When the Psalm was completed, he arose, and left the Monastery, without seeing anyone.

By this conduct, Francis gave the Sisters to understand, that, whatever they might see in him, he was, after all, nothing but a sinful man and a handful of dust and ashes and that God alone is the source of true joy and consolation.

This prudent reserve was a rule which Frances not only laid down for his own personal conduct, but also wished to be adopted by the Brethren to whom he often spoke on this subject. (Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 155-156.)

May we, inspired by the example of Saint Clare of Assisi and aided by prayers from Heaven for us, help to realize these words written by Saint Paul the Apostle, under the Divine inspiration of God the Holy Ghost in his First Epistle to the Corinthians:

[29] This therefore I say, brethren; the time is short; it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none; [30] And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as if they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

[31] And they that use this world, as if they used it not: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us!

Our Lady, Queen Assumend into Heaven, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.

Appendix

From The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies

Part First

Ancient Biography of The Venerable Virgin S. Clare of Assisi

Written by order of Pope Alexander IV.

[The author of this biography is unknown. It was written most probably by Friar Thomas of Celano, the same who also wrote the first life of S. Francis.]

Prologue.

The world was growing old; the eyes of its faith were becoming obscure; and the pace of its moral rectitude unsteady; all manly strength seemed to have vanished. The time, indeed, were abject and evil. Sin and vice were in the ascendant. But God, true lover of humanity, from the depth of his loving wisdom, raised up new Religious Orders, by which He munificently provide for the renewal of faith and the correction of morals. There new leaders, with their faithful followers, could truly be styled the lights of the world, the harbingers of the way, the instructors of life; for, through them, on the world at twilight there arose the dazzling midday splendor, so that those who walked in darkness of night might behold the light.

Now it was meet that the weaker sex, buffeted in the maelstrom of passion, drawn alike by a sentiment of pleasure and her natural frailty, should contribute to this end. For this purpose, God, in His goodness, chose the Venerable Virgin Clare, and in her, He erected for womankind a most brilliant light. And you, Most Holy Father, have set her upon a pedestal that she might illuminate all of the household; for moved by manifest sign and wonder, you have enrolled her upon the calendar of the Saints.

You we venerate as the Father, you we recognize as the Protector, you we proclaim the Guardian, you we honor as Master of these Orders. For your concern in behalf of the guidance of the Bark of Peter does not exclude anxious care concerning the welfare of smaller craft.

Your Holiness has been pleased to charge me to relate the acts of S. Clare and compile her Legend. [Legend literally means to be read.. And, whereas, in houses of Religious Order, the usual matter appointed for public reading was taken from the lives of the Saints, it obtained the meaning of a pious and edifying narrative of the life of some Saint or Holy Servant of God. If sometimes the word Legend is used to signify myth or fable, this is commonly done by those who, either through Ignorance, or out of prejudice against the Catholic Church, deny the wonderful lives of her Saints as incredible and therefore, devoid of historic veracity.] Submission to your Pontifical Authority impels me to attempt a task from which my inability deters me. Hence nerving myself for the work imposed, yet fearing to make use of the imperfect accounts I has read, I had recourse to the companions of Blessed Francis and also visited  the Monastery of the Holy virgins of Christ. For I recalled the injunction of the ancients that “no one is qualified to write history unless he has either personally seen the things he narrates of has obtained them directly form trustworthy eye-witnesses.” Becoming thus thoroughly acquainted with the truth, I have, with simplicity of style, and fear in the Lord, reduced the same to writing. Yet I do not mention everything, but, on the contrary omit many things that could be told. For while it will please, and even delight, cloistered Virgins to read in detail the praised of the Holy virgin S. Clare; other minds, less cultured, would only be confused by a multiplicity of facts.

Let me walk in the footsteps of the new Disciples of the word made flesh; let women copy the example of Clare, a true follower of the mother of God, and the leader of a new company of women.

As for myself, Most Holy Father, I unreservedly submit my will in all things to that of your Holiness, inasmuch as it belongs to you, by virtue of your Supreme Authority, to amend, erase, or augment, whatever I have written.

Fare you well in the Lord, now, and for all time! Amen. 

Chapter I

The admirable Virgin S. Clare, illustrious by her virtues, as indicated by her very name, [Clare – Latin, Clara – means shining, illustrious.] descended from a renowned family in the city of Assisi. A fellow-citizen of Blessed Francis on earth, she now reigns with him in heaven. Her father was a noble knight, and in fact, the family was of illustrious lineage on both sides. Her home was blessed with abundant wealth.

Her mother's name was Ortolana, who was, indeed, an excellent laborer in the garden. [Ortolana – Latin, Hortulana- means gardener] of the Church; for she was to plant in it a tree that was to bear most ample fruit. She was, in addition, endowed with personal merit and good works. For although bound by the ties of marriage, and obliged to attend to household affairs, she devoted, nevertheless, as much of her time as she could spare to God's service and works of piety. In company with other pilgrims she crossed the sea; and having devoutly venerated the sacred places, hallowed by the foot-prints of the Son of God, made man, she returned home with great joy. She, in like manner, went to Monte Gargano to offer her prayers to Blessed Michael, the Archangel; and she also journeyed to Rome to revere the shrines of the Holy Apostles.

But enough, “A tree is known by its fruits” and the fruit is praiseworthy because of the tree. Here the tree itself was fructified by a copious blessing from on high, so that its branches might produce abundant fruits of holiness. When Ortolana was with child and her time was near at hand, she one day, prayed, with great fervor, before a Crucifix in a certain Church that she might safely pass through the perils of child-birth. Suddenly she heard a voice saying: “Fear not, woman! For you shall bring forth a light whose rays shall illumine the whole world.”

Shortly afterwards the child was born, and received in Baptism the name of Clare, at the express wish of the mother, on account of the mysterious voice she had heard, being persuaded that the lustrous effulgence of the light, which had been foretold, would be fully verified, according to God's own pleasure.

Clare was still a mere child, when the splendor of her light began to dispel the sombre shadows of the world, and diffuse, in her tender years, the radiance of a virtuous life. With a docile heart she learned from her mother's lips the rudiments of faith, and as the Divine Spirit kindled in her heart the fire of His love, and molded her character, so she outwardly gave unmistakable sign of being a most pure chosen vessel of Divine Grace.

She gave to the poor with a lavish hand and supplied the needs of many out of the abundance of her house, and that the sacrifice might become the more acceptable to God, she deprived her own body of all delicacies and had them secretly distributed, thus cheering the hearts of the poor and the fatherless. In this way “mercy grew up with her from her infancy” and she manifested the tenderness of her heart by pitying the sorrows of the afflicted.

She loved the practice of holy prayer, so that, she gradually began to lead, in her own home, the life of a recluse, scattering around her the sweet odor of fervor. For want of a better means, she used pebbles to count the number of her prayers. As soon as she began to feel the first shafts of Divine Love pierce her soul, she instantly understood the right value of earthly things and esteemed them no more than vain and earthly trifles, being taught so by the unction of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, under her soft and rich attire, she wore a hair shirt, putting on Christ internally, while outwardly appearing to conform to the world in accordance with her state in life. Being, at length, desired by her people to contract a suitable marriage, she in nowise yielded, but, under pretext of putting off the marriage, commended her virginity to God.

Such were, in her paternal home, her sweet offerings of virtue; such her first-fruits of the Spirit, presages of her future holiness. Thus, filled with the unction of grace, she dispensed abroad the sweet fragrance of virtue, as a vessel of sweet-smelling spices, even when closed, fills the air with its aroma. In this way, unconscious and unwilling as she was, the praise of her goodness and the fame of her virtuous deeds, even when done most secretly, soon became noised abroad.

About this time, she heard of Francis, whose fame had already gone forth, and who, having himself first “put on the new man,” labored with all his might to bring about in the world a renovation of Christian perfection. She, therefore, earnestly desire to see and hear him. In this resolution, too, she was moved by the Spirit of God, Who all along, had been guiding these two chosen souls, though in a different manner. On the other hand, Francis, moreover, had heard of the fame of the holy maiden, and he also was anxious to see and converse with her. For he was wholly intent upon thinning the ranks of the lovers of this world and winning souls for God. Hence he wished, if possible, to snatch this noble prey out of the reach of a wicked world, and to lay her as an illustrious trophy on the altar of God. He soon had occasion to call upon her, and, after that, she paid him frequent visits. Yet they prudently arranged the time of these meetings in such a way that their holy intentions could not be perceived by men, nor give the least rise to suspicion. For in her secret visits to the man of God, whose burning words and holy deeds seemed to her to be superhuman, she never left her father's home except in the company of a faithful friend. [Her aunt Buona Guelfuccio, who shared in the noble aspirations of her niece, and who afterwards, was among the first, if not the very first, of her spiritual daughters]

On these occasions, Blessed Father Francis would exhort her to despise the word, showing her, in glowing terms, the barrenness of all worldly hopes and the deceitfulness of all earthly beauty; and then he would instill into her soul the sweetness of the espousals with Christ, proving to her that the pearl of virginal purity was a befitting offering to be made to the heavenly Bridegroom Whom love drew down upon earth to espouse human nature.

But why multiply words? At the entreaties of the saintly Father, Who acted as a most faithful intermediary, she was not long in giving her full consent. And, forthwith, there was opened out to her a vision of the eternal joys, a sight which made the world appear more despicable, which caused her heart to dissolve yet more with a holy yearning, and which made her long still more ardently to perfect her espousals with the heavenly King. For, glowing with Divine Love, she so thoroughly despised the glory of earthly vanity, that not a particle of human praise found a place in the affections of her heart, and dreading the snares of the flesh, she proposed to herself to remain ignorant even of the very name of sin, desiring to consecrate her body as a living tabernacle to God alone, and striving to merit the espousals of the great King by the practice of virtue.

Henceforth she yielded entirely to the guidance of Francis, looking upon him as being, next to God, the pilot of her spiritual course. Her should now depended entirely upon his sacred counsels, and she listened to him with the utmost fervor of heart, whenever he spoke to her concerning the love of Jesus. She grew more and more weary of being still compelled to parade in worldly apparel, “counting all thing,” which the world admires, “as dross so as to gain Christ.”

Lest the contagion of this world should cast the least stain upon the spotless mirror of her soul, and lest worldly intercourse should, in any form, tarnish the innocence of her pure heart, Francis now hastened to take her out of this dark and treacherous world. It was close upon Palm-Sunday, when she again presented herself before the man of God, to consult him about her conversion, begging of him to tell her what to do and how to do it. Blessed Father Francis ordered her to repair in the morning to the church, dressed in her most festive attire, and, along with the people to receive the blessed palm; but that, on the night following, she was “to go forth to Christ without the camp, bearing His reproach,” leaving behind her every earthly joy, to bewail, thenceforth, the bitter passion of her crucified Redeemer.

When Sunday came, Clare went to Church along with the rest, in the company of a number of young damsels, surpassing them all by the splendor of her rich and elegant dress. Then there happened an event worth mentioning. When all the faithful hastened to receive the blessed palm, Clare, out of maidenly modesty, remained in her place. The Bishop perceiving this, descended the steps, approached her seat and place a palm branch in her hand. That same night, she prepared herself to carry out the command of the Saint; and accompanied by some attendants, who formed her suit of honor, she started on her premeditated flight. Not wishing to leave the house by a public exit, she went to a side gate and finding it obstructed by huge stones and massive posts, she pulled down every obstacle with her own hands, so that she herself was astonished at the wonderful strength with which she was so suddenly endowed.

Thus she left her home, her city, her friends and relatives, and hastened to Our Lady of Portiuncula where the Brethren, who were keeping night-watch in the little sanctuary, received her with lighted torches. Here she disrobed herself of all fineries that to her appeared but as sordid rags compared to the livery of poverty. She had now done with the world forever. Her hair was cut off, and every outward ornament laid aside. Nor was it proper that the new Order of Virgins should be established in any other place than the sanctuary of her who, being the most exalted among women, it the first and only one who, at once, is both Virgin and Mother. It was her, likewise, that the new Militia of the poor under the leadership of Francis had made a happy beginning. Thus it was plain that the Mother of Mercy wished both those Orders to be born under the shadow of her sanctuary [The Blessed Virgin under the title of the Immaculate Conception, has been the principal Patron of the Threefold Order of S, Francis from the beginning.]  As soon as the humble handmaid of the Lord had received the vesture of penance before the Altar of the Blessed Virgin and been espoused to Christ before the very throne of the Mother of God, Francis conducted her to the church of San Paolo [A Monastery of Benedictine Nuns within the city of Assisi.] of to remain there until the Most High should provide her with another domicile.

When the report of these events reached the ears of her kinsfolk, they were filled with grief and roused with indignation, strongly condemning the whole proceeding. Uniting together, they rushed to San Paolo to induce Clare to return home. They used violence, employed all manner of reasoning, and added magnificent promises, if she would only desist from conduct so unworthy her noble family and unheard-of throughout the whole country. But she clung to the altar-cloths, and bearing her head, shorn of its hair, she declared her fixed determination that nothing should ever turn her away from the service of Christ. In proportion as the fury of her relations increased, so increased her courage; and the more they taunted her with insults the stronger became her love. She thus suffered persecution for God's sake a number of days, her relatives continuing to oppose her sacred purpose. Yet her courage never failed and her fervor never abated. And while they heaped opprobriums upon her, and vented their rage in every way, she remained calm, being sure of victory.  At last, cowered by Clare's courage and baffled in their attempts, they withdrew and left her in peace.

A few days later she transferred her abode from S. Paolo to San Angelo di Pansa; [Another Monastery of Benedictine Nuns, situated outside the city of Assisi not far from the Sanctuary of Portiuncula]  and as here also her mind was not yet fully at rest, she went upon the advice of Blessed Francis to the church of San Damiano. Here she took up her permanent abode, being no longer compelled to move elsewhere. She did not shrink from it on account of the narrowness of the place, neither did she fear solitude. This is the church for the restoration of which Francis had labored with wonderful zeal and had offered the priest a large sum of money. This is the church in which Francis while engaged in prayer, had heard, one day, a voice from the Crucifix, savying: “Francis, go, and repair My church with as you perceive, is completely falling into ruin.” In this narrow cell, Clare shut herself up out of love for her heavenly Bridegroom. Here she imprisoned her body, as long as she lived, to be secure from the raging tempest of the world. Like a dove, she here made her nest, “in the hollow places of the wall.”  Here she became the Mother of a College of holy Virgins. Here she founded a sacred Monastery, and commenced the Order of Poor Ladies. Here, in this narrow retreat, she lived, for a period of forty years, a life of most austere penance, the deolence of which perfumed the whole world. But the holiness of her life will appear more clearly by pointing out how many, and what noble souls were, through her, led to Christ. 

Chapter II 

Soon the fame of the sanctity of the Virgin Clare spread throughout the neighboring Provinces, so that women were “drawn” from all parts “to run after her to the odor of her ointments.” There were Virgins who, after her example, hastened to consecrate their virginity to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, while married women endeavored to live more chastely. There were noble and illustrious maidens who forsook stately palaces to build for themselves poor narrow cloisters where they deemed it the greatest glory to live hidden with Christ and do penance in sack-cloth and ashes. There were men and youths who, not wishing to be outdone by the heroic efforts of the weaker sex, vied with them, in holy conflict, to despise the allurements of the flesh. Some, in fine, already joined in holy matrimony, promised, by mutual consent, to observe the law of continency, and there and then separated, the men to swell the ranks of the First Order, the women to follow S. Clare. Mother exhorted their daughters, daughters their mothers, to dedicate themselves to Christ; sisters besought sisters, nieces aunts, and aunts nieces; all desired to serve Christ, emulating each other in holy fervor. They were all anxious to adopt the angelic mode of life, traced out by S. Clare. There was a vast number of young Virgins, who moved by the glowing accounts they heard concerning the holy life of Clare, but unable, for pressing reason, to embrace the cloistered life, endeavored to live as Religious in their own homes, without being bound by monastic rules. So great was the number of those whom Clare, by her example, gained for a better life that, in her, seemed to be fulfilled the words of the Prophet: “Many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband.” [Isaias LIV. 1]

Lest the new source of heavenly blessing, which had sprung up in the Valley of Spoleto, should, in a short time, dry up, Divine Providence ordained that it should grown into a mighty river, so that “the stream of the river should make the city of God joyful.” [Psalms XLV, 5] For the rumor of the marvelous tiding soon spread , far and wide, into distant parts, and everywhere, her example began to fain souls for Christ. Clare, though shut up in the cloister, thus began indeed to enlighten the world and to become illustrious by the praises of all people. The fame of her virtues penetrated the chambers of noble ladies and the palaces of queens and princesses. The fairest flowers of nobility stooped to follow her lowly example, and the pride of royal blood was brought low by holy humility. Many, deserving by their rank to be given in marriage to kings and princes, followed in the lead of Clare and did penance. Many widows, who had been married to the mighty ones of this world, enrolled themselves under the standard of Clare. Her monasteries soon adorned cities without number, and even country districts and mountain peaks were beautified with the dwelling of these angels of peace. Thus, through the holy example of Clare, a new impetus was given to the practice of holy chastity in the world, and in the cloister, there was brought about thorough revival of the Order of Virgins. With such flowers of rare and exquisite beauty, the Church has happily been made verdant in these days of ours, according to Clare's own longing:”Stay me up with flowers; for I languish with love.”  [Canticles II, 5.]

But our pen must revert to our former purpose and make known what manner of life the Holy Virgin led in the cloister.

Clare, the corner-stone and the noble basis of the Order endeavored, from the very beginning of her religious career, to raise the edifice of all virtues upon the solid foundations of holy humility. She had promised Blessed Francis holy obedience, and from this promise she never deviated. When the first three years of her religious life had passed , she declined the name and office of Mother Abbess, and, out of her great humility, she wished to be subject rather that govern, and “to minister” to the hand-maids of Christ “rather than to be ministered to.” [Math. XX, 28] But being commanded by Blessed Francis to undertake the government of the Poor Ladies, she did so at once. The new office, however, produced in her heart fear rather than vanity and made her sill more desirous of becoming the servant of all. For the more she saw herself raised above others by reason of her office, the more  despicable she became in her own eyes, and the more eager to be despised by others. She never shrank from the most menial offices of the community, such as drawing water, assisting the Sisters in their daily household duties and serving at table. It was much against her will that she ever issued any commands. She would rather, of her own free will, do the thing herself than impose it upon others. Thus she waited upon the sick Sisters, making their beds, cleaning their cells, and washing their clothes with her own hands. Nothing disagreeable or unpleasant could ever keep her from these lowly services. She would often wash the fee of the Lay-sisters, returning home from their duties abroad, and having washed their feet, she was wont to kiss them. One day, as she was washing the feet of a certain Lay-sister, and as she was about to kiss the, the Sister, unwilling to bear such marks of humility, instantly withdrew her feet; but, in so doing, she inadvertently struck the abbess in the face, The abbess smiles, and, seizing the foot with both her hands, imprinted a loving kiss upon the sole of the foot.

Poverty of spirit, which is intimately allied to true humility, was practiced by the holy Abbess in the highest degree. She had, in the very beginning of her religious life, cause to be distributed amongst the poor whatever was due to her from her father's inheritance, retaining for herself nothing whatever. Have thus left all earthly things and being enriched internally, she could follow Christ in His Poverty, without let or hindrance. In fine, she made with holy Poverty a strict compact, or contact of love, to the end that she would not desire anything on earth but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor would she tolerate her daughters to possess anything, or receive, or lay up, anything beyond what was truly necessary for food and clothing. For she know that this most precious pearl of the Gospel, which she had purchased by selling all things, could not be possessed along with an inordinate solicitude after the goods of this earth. She frequently impressed upon the Sisters that their Order would be pleasing to God so long as it would abound in holy Poverty, and that it would never cease to exist, provided it was safe-guarded by the bulwarks of most holy Poverty. She exhorted them to keep within the safe abode of holy Poverty, after the example of Christ Who made Himself poor for our sake, and Whom His Blessed Mother, in her great poverty, placed as a Babe, in a poor narrow manner. This special fact she used to keep before her eyes as a constant reminder of holy Poverty, and place it, so to speak, as a precious gem around her neck, ever gazing upon the poverty of Jesus and Mary, in order that attachment to anything earthly should never steal into her heart.  (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 30-45.)

MIRACLES OF SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI

There are two miracles which she merited to perform on account of her great love of holy Poverty.

Upon a certain day, it so happened that but one single loaf of bread could be found in the Monastery. Meal-time had arrived, and the Sisters were hungry. The Saint called the Sister in charge and told her to divide the loaf, sending one half to the Friars and retaining the other half for the Sisters. Next she ordered her to make upon the remaining half fifty incisions, according to the number of Sisters, break it and then serve at table. When the Sister remarked that a special miracle of Christ would be needed to multiply that little piece of bread into fifty portions, the Holy Abbess simply said: “Peace, my daughter! Just do as I tell you.” The Sister went to comply with the Mother's request. Meanwhile the Mother hastened to cast herself at the feet of her beloved Spouse and sent up her sighs on behalf of her daughters. And lo! While the Sister was engaged in breaking the bread, it miraculously multiplied in her hands, so that there was more than enough for the whole community.

At another time, the supply of oil had entirely given out, so that not even the poor sick Sisters had any seasoning for their food. Clare took the vessel used for oil, and with great humility, first washed it with her own hands, and then placed it outside so that the soliciting Brother might take it. The Lay-Brother was called and asked to solicit oil. The devoted Brother, anxious to relieve their need, ran to fetch the vessel. “But it is not of him that wills, not of him that runs, but God that showeth mercy.” [Romans IX, 16] For through the all-powerful intervention of God, and the prayers of S. Clare, the vessel was found filled with oil, and thus the kind services of the Brother were not needed. The said Brother, however, finding he had been summoned in vain, was at first, somewhat annoyed and said: “These good Ladies are having a joke with me; for behold! the vessel is quite replenished with oil.”

CHAPTER III

It would better perhaps to pass over in silence, than to attempt to describe, the extraordinary penances with which S. Clare used to afflict her body, since the bare recital of them is calculated to cause the reader to shudder or doubt of their veracity. It was a small thing that her clothing consisted of a plain habit and mantle made of coarse woolen material, just large enough to cover the body, but not sufficient enough to keep it warm. It was a small thing that the use of shoes or other covering for the feet was entirely ignored by her. It was a small thing for her to live the whole year round upon lenten fare and to sleep upon straw. In all these matters, no special praise is due to her; for this was the common practice of all the Sisters. Let us, however, mention a few facts.

She usually wore a rough hair shirt upon her delicate body. One was made of pig skin, with the bristles of about an inch in length still upon it, so as to torture her body. The other was made of twisted and knotted horse hair, fastened around her body with rough cords. One of the the Sisters asked her one day to lend her this hair-shirt, and the Abbess complied. The Sister, however, could not endure it long, but brought it back on the third day with much greater readiness than she had shown in asking for it.

The bare ground, or sometimes faggots of brush-wood were her bed, and a block of wood her pillow. Being bound in the course of time, to allow her weakened body a little indulgence, she took her repose upon a skin spread out on the ground with a pillow of straw under her head. And when, finally, on account of so much severity, she was afflicted with continual illness, Blessed Francis commanded her to use for a bed a sack filled with straw.

So rigorous was her fasting and abstinence that the little nourishment, she allowed her body, was wholly insufficient to sustain life unless supported by supernatural aid. As long as she was I good health, she fasted upon bread and water, during the entire church Lent as well as that of St. Martin, tasting no wine except of Sundays, when there was any. And be it known to you, dear reader, that, throughout the whole of these two Lents, she absolutely tasted no food whatever during three days each week, namely on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – a thing well worth our admiration, but hardly possible of imitation. In this manner, the days of Lent succeeded each other in such a way, that one day she abstained from food altogether, and the next day took nothing but bread and water, as though a vigil of absolute fast was a preparation for a feast upon bread and water. No wonder that such excessive rigor kept up for a number of years, rendered her in the end a victim to a multitude of infirmities and deprived her body of all strength. Her affectionate daughter, seeing her practice such daily mortifications, were full of compassion and even shed tears. She, was, however, finally commanded both by S. Francis and the Bishop of Assisi to abandon these three days of absolute fast, and to take each single day at least one ounce and a half of bread for her repast.

A wasted body usually affects the spirit, but not so with Clare. She always preserved a pleasant and cheerful countenance in spite of her penances, as though she seemed either not to feel the necessities of the body, or be wholly superior to them. Thus the abundance of interior joy which filled her soul, manifested itself outwardly in the body. For when once love has taken complete possession of the heart, the sufferings of the body count for nothing.

Dead to the world as to her body and entirely weaned from earthly things, her whole soul hung upon the constant practice of holy prayer and divine praises. The eyes of her mind were always fixed with the utmost fervor upon the contemplation of heavenly things, and in proportion as her soul soared high above mundane things, so her heart was enlarged to receive the abundant showers of Divine Grace. Every day after Compline, she remained with the Sisters in choir absorbed in silent prayer. And while she would bread forth into sighs and tears, the other, carried away by the force of her example, were moved in like manner. When at length the Sisters retired to their rude cells to seek some repose for their wearied limbs, she would continue her night watches alone and remain steadfast in prayer to catch the secret whisperings of the Dive Spirit. On such occasions she would cast herself upon her face and bedew the ground with her tears and kiss it, as though she lay at the feet of Christ and desired to wash them with her tears and cover them with fervent kisses.

One dark night as she was engaged in prayer, an angel of darkness stood suddenly before her in the form of a negro boy who approached her saying: “You will surely go blind with so much weeping.” To whom she quickly replied: “They shall never be blind who shall see their God.” Upon this, the devil fled in confusion. But that same night after Matins, as she was praying in her usual manner amidst tears and sighs, the tempter again approached her and said: “So much weeping will soften your very brain, and it will flow through your nostrils like water.” They who serve their God, need to be afraid of nothing,” was her prompt reply, and the tempter vanished.

What strength she received from the practice of her fervent prayer, and with what sweetness the Divine Bounty overwhelmed her, showed itself in a number of ways. Whenever she returned from prayer, there was such joy and happiness depicted on her countenance, and such ardor in her words at to set the hearts of the Sisters all on fire. There was such sweetness in her conversation, and often times her face shone with such heavenly radiance, that the Sisters marveled. Indeed, “God in His sweetness, had provided” [Psalms LXVII,11) for His humble handmaid. That celestial light with which her mind was replenished, shone forth bodily in her outward behavior. While thus still living in this perishable world, she was already intimately united to her heavenly Bridegroom, and tasted of the delight of Heaven. Though still subject to the miseries of life, she seemed to be above them, being upheld by a superior power, and to carry about in her mortal body the treasures of heavenly glory. In the flesh she indeed still lived on earth, but with her mind she was already in heaven.

 She usually rose for Matins before any of the younger Sisters, whom she herself was accustomed to summon for prayer. Often, while the others were still asleep, she would light the lamps, ring the bell and prepare everything for Divine Office. In her community, the body was allowed no self -indulgence; there was no room for idleness. If at any time the least sign of sloth or remissness in prayer or the Divine Office showed itself, a severe reprimand would at once check the fault.

Here it will not be out of place to relate some of the wonderful facts, cause by the efficacy of the prayers of S. Clare.

That fierce tempest which the Emperor Frederic [Frederic II, King of Naples and Sicily and Emperor of Germany 1194-1250 invaded the Papal States in order to annex them to his empire, was a third time ex-communicated by Pope Innocent IV at the first Council of Lyons and deposed from his empire yet fought to the end and died miserably abandoned by all] raised against the Church in diverse parts of the world, also caused the Valley of Spoleto to drink frequently of the bitter cup of ire and vengeance. At his imperial command, squads of soldiers and bands of Saracens, [When Frederic was crowned Emperor of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle her had promised Pope Honorius III to undertake a crusade, but put it off under various pretexts; being excommunicated by Gregory IX, he went to Palestine; at his return her brought with him troops at Saracens whom he employed in his wars against the Papal Power.] well skilled in archery and as numerous as swarms of bees, had been stationed there to destroy fortified places and rave towns and cities. Assisi, a city dear to God, was to share the common doom. A furious attack was made, and the soldiers stood already within close approach of the city gates. A number of Saracens, a most lawless set, thirsting after the blood of Christians and shrinking from no crime, had gathered around San Damiano and already advanced to the walls of the cloister. The Sisters full of terror, ran trembling and weeping to their Mother. But she, nothing dismayed, caused herself to be led – for she was ill at the time – to the main entrance in the full sight of the enemy. Before her was carried the silver pyx cased in ivory, containing the Body of her Divine Savior, and, prostrate before Him in prayer, she said to Him amidst many tears: “Behold, my Lord, wilt Thou permit Thy handmaids whom I have brought up in Thy love to be delivered into the hand of Pagans? Defend, I beseech Thee, O Lord, these Thy handmaids whom I myself am unable to defend at this hour” Instantly a voice was heard, as that of a little child, saying: “I will always protect you.” “Be pleased also to defend” she continued, “this city which is sustaining us for love of Thee.” And the Lord said to her: “The city will be troubled, but shall be defended by My protection, and your intercession.” Then Clare, turning her tearful countenance toward her weeping daughters, consoled them, saying: “I assure you, my daughter, that you shall suffer no harm; only place your trust in our Lord.” When behold! The fierceness of those ferocious pagans abated in an instant. Those who had already scaled the walls, fell backwards, and all of them quickly dispersed and took to flight. Such was the power of the Saint's intercession. She strictly charged all who had heard the mysterious voice never to reveal it during her life.

At another time, Vitalis Aversa, a man full of ambition, and most valiant in war, led the Imperial army, [of Frederic II] of which he was general, against Assisi. He caused the country to be bared of all its trees and the whole district to be laid waste, and then prepared to besiege the city itself. He swore in menacing words that he would not leave the spot until had the city in his possession. The city was in imminent danger from the besieging host. When Clare heard this, she was filled with great grief and sorrow,  and having called together the Sisters, she said to them: “You know, my dearest daughters, how many benefits we daily receive from that city; now it would be most sinful on our part if we failed at this critical moment, to come to its assistance, as far as we can.” Then she ordered ashes to be brought, and told the Sisters to bare their heads. First she strewed ashes upon her own head, and then upon the head of each Sister in turn. “Hasten now,” she said, “to our Lord and beseech Him with all your hearts to liberate the city.” The rest need not be told. Who could describe the sighs and tears and vehement prayers that rose up to the Throne of Mercy! The following morning, the citizens made a desperate attemt to beat back the enemy, and, with God's merciful assistance, they succeeded to such an extent that the entire army was routed. The arrogant leader was compelled to seek refuge in flight without being able to keep his oath. Niethier did he ever after trouble that district any more, and shortly after the Emperor, himself perished by the sword. [being murdered by his natural son, Manfred]

Neither must we omit the wonderful event wrought by the efficacy of Clare's prayers in the very beginning of her religious life, how she obtained the grace of religious vocation for her own sister, and how she rescued her from the persecution of her relatives. Clare had a sister, tender of years, [12 years of age]  a sister not merely by the ties of nature, but also in purity and holiness. No wonder that she was most anxious to have her for a companion in the cloister. Consequently the first prayers she offered to God were directed to this end that, she had been of one mind with her sister in the world, so they might now be of one heart and soul in His Divine Service in the cloister. For this reason she prayed most fervently to the Father of Mercies that He might inspire her sister with contempt of the world and the desire of heavenly things: that she might thus forego all natural ties of earthly marriage, however honorable, and together with her be espoused by perpetual virginity to the Heaven Bridegroom. The two sisters had always loved each other most affectionately, and the separation had become, for both, the source of much sorrow. But the Divine Majesty was pleased to speedily hear the prayers of Clare, so that the very first favor for which she was asking with so much fervor – a petition which was moreover, in itself, most acceptable to God – was granted without delay. Sixteen days had passed since Clare had retire from the world, when Agnes – such was her sister's name – moved by the Spirit of God, hastened to her, and, opening to her the secrets of her heart, told her she was most anxious to devote herself entirely to God's service. Clare embraced her sister with great joy and cried out: “O how much I thank God for having heard my prayer in your behalf!”

This wonderful conversation was followed by a protection no less wonderful. While the two happy sisters were engaged in the service of Christ in the Church of San Angelo de Pansa, Clare acting as Mistress of Novices in regard to her younger sister, to instruct her in the new mode of life, fresh persecutions were set on foot against them by their relatives. Twelve of their kinsmen, hearing that Agnes had gone over to Clare, ran the very next day, to the Church of San Angelo. They were filled with rage, yet they concealed their cunning purpose under a calm and peaceful exterior and then entered the place. Turning to Agnes – for they had now given up all hopes concerning Clare – they said: “Why did you come to this place? Get ready at once, to return home with us.” When she answered that she was resolved never to leave Clare, one of the Knights, unable to contain his fury any longer, rushed upon her and brutally assailed her with blows and kicks, and then seizing her by the hair, began to crag her away. The others had, meanwhile, ran toward to assist their companion, lifting her up in their arms to carry her away. Agnes, finding herself seized, as it were, by savage beasts, and snatched away from the embrace of her Divine Lord, loudly called upon Clare, saying: “Help me, my dearest sister, and do not permit me to be separated from my Lord!” Her captors were still dragging her down the slope of the hill, Agnes resister with all her might. Her garments had been torn to pieces and her hair was scattered about in handfuls. Clare had meanwhile fallen on her knees, beseeching her Divine Lord with tears in her eyes, to endow her sister's soul with fortitude and to bring to naught the attempts of men by His Almighty Power.

Suddenly the body of Agnes became so firmly rooted to the ground and so heavy, that all of them with their united efforts could not carry her over a little brook they had to cross. They asked a number of men who were engaged in the vineyards and in the fields close by to help them. But even they could not raise the body in the least. Seeing themselves baffled in their attempt, some of them treated the evident miracle in a scoffing fashion, saying: “She must have been eating lead all night; no wonder she is so heavy/” But when one of her uncles, Count Monaldo, in his rage, drew his poignard to stab her, the hand which held the weapon was seized with a most acute pain which troubled him for a good while after. At this conjuncture, Clare appeared upon the scene of conflict and begged her kinsfolk to desist from all further attempts, and to leave Agnes, who lay there half dead to her care. And while they, with bitterness in their hearts, walked away without having accomplished their purpose, Agnes rose up full of joy, and glorying in the cross of Christ for Whom she had fought this first battle, she now devoted herself forever to His Divine service. Blessed Francis cut off her hair with his own hands and instructed her along with her sister in the way of the Lord. Fining it impossible to describe, in a few words, the great perfection to which she attained we will return to Clare.

No one need wonder that Clare's prayers were so powerful against the malice of men, since they vexed ever the demons of hell. A devout woman from the diocese of Pisa came, one day, to the Monastery to thank God and S, Clare, that through her merits, she had been freed from five evil spirits. For when the devils were being expelled from her,  they declared that the prayers of S. Clare fearfully tormented them and caused them to leave the bodies of the possessed.

It is not without cause that the Lord Pope Gregory [IX] had great faith in the prayers of the Saint, since he often experienced their wonderful power and efficacy. For frequently, whenever any great difficulty arose – as it happened in the course of events –both while her was the Bishop of Ostia and even afterwards when raised to the See of Peter, he would recommend himself by letter to her prayers, and was always wonderfully assisted. Neither is it astonishing that the Vicar of Christ should implore the aid of a handmaid of Christ and commend himself to her virtues. It, at once, betokens his humility and demands our imitation. For he well knew what love can do and how freely pure virgins have access to the council chambers of the Heavenly King. For if the King of Heaven gives Himself to them that love Him, what is there He will refuse to their prayers?   (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 46-57.)

The Order in Bohemia

Bohemia has preserved the most precious documents which attest the apostolic zeal and loving solicitude of the holy Abbess of Assisi. These documents are addressed to B. Agnes, who was instrumental in establishing the Order in Bohemia. We must pay a passing tribute to her singularly interesting and holy life.

Agnes was born at Prague about the year 1200, the exact date being unknown. Her father was Primislas, King of Poland; and her mother was Constance, sister of Andrew II., King of Hungary, and aunt of S. Elizabeth of Hungary.

At the age of three, Agnes was betrothed to Boleslas, the son of Henry, Duke of Silesia, and of S. Hegwige, and was, according to the custom of those days, sent to the court of the young Prince of Silesia. Here her education was confided to the Cistercian Nuns of the Monastery of Trebnitz.  Shortly afterwards, S. Hedwige, being left a widow, retired to the same monastery, and took charge of the young princess. Prince Henry, however, died, three years later; and Agnes was taken back to Bohemia and placed with the Nuns of the Premonstratensian Order at Doxane.

Not long afterwards, the German Emperor, Frederic II, sent a solemn embassy to Bohemia and sued for the hand of Agnes on behalf of his son, Prince Henry. In consequence of this, Agnes was sent to the court of Leopold, Duke of Austria, to learn the language and customs of the Germans. But God had other designs in her regard. Being enlightened internally by the Divine Spirit, she took greater pains to advance in the Science of the Saints than in the knowledge and acquirements befitting the rank for which she was destined. The brilliant career before her had no charms whatever. She longer for prayer and solitude, and besought God in secret of her heart to be enabled to consecrate to Him her virginity. Her prayer was answered. Prince Henry married the daughter of Leopold, and Agnes was free once more to return home.

But her another trial was in store for her. The Emperor Frederic himself, having become a widower by the death of Yolanda, demanded the hand of Agnes. Yet Agnes was not discouraged. She merely increase her prayers and penances. At length, the time fixed for the marriage approached, and Frederic sent an embassy to conduct his affianced bride to the imperial court. In this difficulty Agnes privately appealed to the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory IX, to whom she made known her ardent longing and implored him to use his authority to prevent a marriage, to which she had never given her consent. The Pope sent a special Nuncio to Bohemia to take the holy Princess under his protection.

When the Emperor was informed of the state of affairs, he was at first, highly incensed at her refusal, yet he calmed down soon and released Agnes from any obligation she might have contracted. He even praised her firmness and uttered these memorable words: “Had she left me for a mortal man, I would know how to avenge myself with the sword. But I can take no offense when she prefers to me the King of Heaven.” These were noble words coming from a generous heart, inspired by faith. What a pity that such a man allowed himself to be carried away by a tyrannous ambition which brought him to a miserable end.

Agnes was at length free to give herself wholly to God; and she hastened to be admitted into the monastery she had already founded in the city of Prague for the daughters of S. Clare. She received the holy habit from the hands of the Apostolic Nuncio, in the presence of the royal family and the nobles of Bohemia. This took place on Pentecost Sunday, in the year 1236.

In the life of Agnes was admirable in the world, it became still more so in the cloister. IT suffices to says that she edified all by her eminent and heroic virtues. God was pleased to endow her with the gift of miracles and prophecy. She died March 6^th, 1280 being about eighty years of age.

We subjoin the letter addressed to her by S. Clare, who always entertained a special love and tenderness for the holy and devoted Princess of Bohemia.

First letter of S. Clare to B. Agnes.

To the Noble and Venerable Virgin Agnes, Daughter of the powerful and invincible King of Bohemia.

Clare, the lowly hand-maid of Christ, and servant of the Virgins, consecrated to God, in the Monastery of San Damiano, renders homage in the Lord, and desires for her, with all respect and ardor, the glory of eternal felicity.

The fame of your virtues, already known almost throughout the world, has reached us, most noble Princess, and we rejoice therat greatly in the Lord; not only we ourselves, but all those who are anxious to do the will of God and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is true then that you have trample under foot the most brilliant honors, the most enviable glory of the world, even the throne of the august Emperor to who you might have become allied, as became both you and his majesty, and that you have embraced, with your whole soul and with intense desire, Holy Poverty, the subduing of the flesh, and the lowly estate of our Divine Redeemer, Whom you have chosen for your inheritance. Have confidence! God will enable you by his grace, to preserve intact the priceless treasure of virginity. His power is above all other power; His amiability transcends that of any other being; His beauty casts into shade whatever is most beautiful. His love satisfies all desires, and is worth more than all earthly delight.

How happy you are, therefore, to have been chosen by this divine Bridegroom, Who in the style of the language of Sacred Scripture, has adorned your neck with precious stones, your ears with rings of inestimable value, your breast with cincture of purest gold, your brow with dazzling crown, marked with the seal of holiness. Therefore, my dearest Sister, or rather reverend Lady, since you are, at once, the Spouse, Sister, and Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, be proud to walk under the noble banner of inviolate virginity and Holy Poverty, the which you have chosen for your sovereign mistress. [St. Francis was wont to call Holy Poverty his sovereign lady and mistress]  continue to walk, with all fervor, on the road upon which you have entered with so much courage, and persevere in imitating the virtues of Him Who, for love of us, was born in poverty, live in poverty, and died in poverty upon a cross under the most fearful torments, in order to set us free from the slavery of the Prince of Darkness and reconcile us to His heavenly Father.

O blessed Poverty, to which is promised the Kingdom of heaven and glory everlasting! O blessed Poverty, which givest to those that love and embrace thee such priceless goods and a life so happy and so free to all unrest! O amiable Poverty, which hast been loved so especially and so tenderly,  and hast been embraced so fondly by our Lord Who has created all things by one word of His mouth, Who has governed them, and will govern them, all days with Sovereign Power! He Himself assures us: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air, nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head,” [Math. VIII, 20] And in truth, from the day on which the Divine Lord descended into the womb of a pure Virgin to unite Himself to our humanity, He was made poor and needy, so that men, who were poor and needy in heavenly goods, might be made rich with the treasures of His grace and possess the Kingdom of heaven.

Since then, the only Son of God would not rest His bleeding Head except upon a cross, should not you, my daughter, exult with gladness and rejoice in spirit, because you have preferred the contempt of this world to its honors, poverty to riches, and the treasures of heaven to those of earth! Yes, I have no need to remind you of what you believe so firmly, that the Kingdom of heaven is promised to the poor, and that the poor alone shall possess it. You know that, when we we love the things of this earth, we lose  the fruit of Divine love, and that we cannot sserve two masters, at one and the same time, without displeasing either the one or the other. You know that he, who is impeded by his garments, cannot enter upon a combat with one who is naked; and that we cannot hope to fight successfully without stripping ourselves entirely; and that earthy adornments are only means in the hands of our enemy to lay hold on us more easily. Yes, my Sister, it is difficult to live in luxury in this world to reign with Christ in the the other. “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” [Matt. XIX,24]  You have, therefore, done well to cast aside these superfluous garments, that, the goods of this earth. You will now be able to overcome all the more easily its attacks. You have been wise and prudent to enter upon the narrow road which leads to glory. O happy exchange! To leave the goods of time for those of eternity, to merit the things of heaven by sacrificing the things of earth, to obtain a hundredfold, and life everlasting: – this is a transaction, worthy of all praise, and a token of most perfect prudence. Hence I entreat your Highness, in the bonds of Jesus Christ, to remain faithful in the service of the great King. Ever increase in all goodness; advance from virtue to virtue, so that He, Whom you have followed, with the utmost intensity of your soul, may be pleased to overwhelm you with the abundance of His Divine favors.

I also beg of you, in the Lord, to be mindful of me, your unworthy handmaid, and of the other devoted Sisters who live with me in this monastery. Be pleased to recommend us to our dear Lord in your holy prayers, so that, aided by His merits, we may obtain the mercy of Jesus Christ and be found worthy to enjoy with Him everlasting happiness.

Farewell in the Lord, and pray for me. Alleluia.

B. Agnes had asked S. Clare for a personal keepsake. In answer to this request, she sent her, along with this second letter, a wooden cross, a rough cincture, a coarse veil of canvas, and the earthenware bowl out of which she used to drink. These objects were treasured by B. Agnes as precious relics, and when Clare had been canonized, she caused them, through the medium of her brother, King Wenceslas, to be encased in godl and silver, and ordered them to be always kept, with great reverence, in the Monastery of Prague. Miracle are said to have been wrought through their instrumentality.

Second letter of S. Clare to B. Agnes.

To Agnes, the Daughter of the King of Kings, a Queen among Virgins, to a wothy Souse of Jesus Christ, through union with Whom she has, in truth, been made Queen.

Clare, an unworthy and unprofitable servant of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano.

Health and the happiness ever to live in utmost Poverty.

Thanks be to God, the Author of all good, the Source of every perfection and heavenly gift for having embellished your soul with so many virtues! He it is Who has sanctified you in every way, and raised you to such a degree of purity that His eyes can find in you no imperfections which might offend Him. Happy are you; for this holiness will move the Heavenly King to unite Himself to you in perpetual joy in that resplendent abode of His, where He is seated upon his starry throne. You have despised the grandeurs of an earthly kingdom; you have disdained the glory of a princely marriage; and, being carried away by the unspeakable delights of holy Poverty, you have solemnly engaged yourself to walk, with joy and love, in the footprints of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are truly worthy of that union to which you aspire. Knowing that your heart is the sanctuary of Christian virtues, I will not weary you with a long discourse, though you will find, perhaps, nothing superfluous in words which fill our souls with spiritual comfort. I will remind you of but one thing, since it is so necessary, and that is the obligation of persevering in the good resolutions with which God has inspired us by His grace.

I exhort you, therefore, for love of Him to Whom you have offered yourself as a sacrifice of sweet odor, ever to be mindful of your vocation, and, like another Rachel, to look back upon the beginning, that is, to consider in your heart what you were in those happy days when you first renounced the world. Preserve what you already hold. Do what you have to do. Never stop in the spiritual course upon which you have entered. March ahead with a lively step, and without stopping to rest, lest you should be tanrished with the dust of earthly things. Ever keep yourself in the calm and joy of a good conscience, and andvance upon this blessed road, without ever yielding to anything that would turn you aside from you good resolutions and place an obstacke to your onward course. Constantly tend to that perfection to which the Holy Ghost has called you, so that you may offer to the Most High, without ceasing, the vows acceptable in His sight, and that you may obey, with every greater fidelity, the commandments of our Lord, and the counself our our Father, Friar Elias, Minister Gerneral of our Order. Have the firm resolution to prefer his counsels to all others; look upon his directions as a precious treasure. Should anyone insinuate to you anything, contrary to your perfection and holy vocation, give it no heed, even though you should thereby be enabled to obtain honors and goods that would lift you up above all men. This is not the thing after which you must aspire. Live in poverty; hold fast to Jesus, Who made Himself so poor; consider the humiliations, which He embraced for your sake. And follow Him, so that, if needs be, you become for His sake, an object of contempt in the eyes of the world. Your heavenly Bridegroom is “beautiful in form above the sones of men;” [Psalm XLIV.,3]  and yet, He became “the reproach of men and the outcast of the people.” [Psalm XXI.,7]  He permitted his body to be torn by scourges, and He breathed forth His Spirit amidst the most frightful agonies upon a cross. Should you not, therefore, noble Queen, feel yourself inflamed with an ardent longing to imitate Him? If you suffer with Him, you shall also be glorified with Him. If you remain with Him fastened to the cross, you will also taste with Him the sweetness of heaven to be enjoyed in the light of the Saints. Your name will be written in the Book of Life, and shall shine throughout all eternity. In exchange for the perishable goods of this earth, you will obtain treasures that will last forever; and, by bearing now a few sufferings, you will merit eternal happiness.

Farewell, my dearest Sister, Virgin ever-blessed of your Bridegroom! My Sisters and myself who rejoice at the good things with which God has so abundantly blessed you, place a lively confidence in you holy prayers. Do you, therefore, along with your Sisters, recommend us, in your charity, most earnestly to God, our Lord.  (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 126-131.)

THE EXAMPLE OF SAINT FRANCIS  

It is related that when after an unusually long absence, he once more presented himself at San Damiano to edify and comfort the Sisters by a salutary exhortation, he notice in their outward behavior  evident sign of the joy and consolation they felt at seeing once more the face of their beloved father and master. This would seem to be perfectly natural. Yet Francis thought they deserved a lesson. He, therefore, went to kneel before the altar and began to pray silently. After a little while, he ordered ashes to be brought to him. Having strewn the ashes in a circle upon the ground, he knelt within the centre, and again began to pray without saying a word. The joy which the Sisters had, at first, experienced, soon yielded to fear and trembling. Francis remained on his knees for some time. He then arose and turning towards the Sisters, he said to the: Let us all kneel down and recite the Psalm “Miserere.” And kneeling down again, he intoned the Psalm in a tone of deep sorrow and compunction. When the Psalm was completed, he arose, and left the Monastery, without seeing anyone.

By this conduct, Francis gave the Sisters to understand, that, whatever they might see in him, he was, after all, nothing but a sinful man and a handful of dust and ashes and that God alone is the source of true joy and consolation.

This prudent reserve was a rule which Frances not only laid down for his own personal conduct, but also wished to be adopted by the Brethren to whom he often spoke on this subject. (Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 155-156.)

The Year 1850 Permission granted by the Holy See.

August 30^th  - first glimpse of the stone coffin

Triduum was ordered to commence September 15^th.

September 22^nd appointed for the beginning of the ceremonies in connection with the Finding of the body

Excerpts from Pastoral letter of Right Rev. Luigi Landi Bishop of Assisi to his flock. 

Such is the happy intelligence which, with great joy, we make known to you inhabitants of Assisi, our beloved children, so that you also, in your turn, may rejoice and be edified. Yes, children, it is indeed an occasion of holy joy, an occasion on which we may rightly congratulate ourselves. It will be permitted to us to behold, with our own eyes, the sacred remains of S. Clare. None of our ancestors, for the last six centuries, have had this happiness; and we, thanks be to God, who are her fellow-citizens, have the consolation of exhuming the venerable ashes of S. Clare in order to pay them all due honors. “Her bones were visited, and after death they prophecied.” {Ecclesiasticus, XLIX. 18] Yes, her bones shall be visited, and they shall prophecy. For, being exhibited to the pious contemplation of the inhabitants of this city, they will remind them of the glorious deed, which they were instruments in performing, while animated with the breath of life. They will recall those brilliant examples of every virtue,  above all, that humility, that self-denial, that spotless purity, that contempt of the world, by which our saint triumphed over the seductions of the age, the attraction of pleasure, the honor and riches of the world, and which led her to embrace that austere rule, which enchains the passions, stifles concupiscence, and raise the edifice of salvation upon the ruins of self-love.

Yes, her bones shall be visited, and they shall prophecy. They shall prophecy in these days when the spirit of falsehood is making such efforts to obscure the glory of the Catholic Church; in these days when the “cockle” is growing us in such abundance as to stifle the “good seed” [Matthew XIII, 27] of  truth, when the deposit of the Gospel is being assailed with such fury by the “mystery of iniquity,” [II Thessal. II, 7] when faith is tottering in the hearts of the faithful, when the Church of Jesus Christ beholds the morals of her children growing each day more and more corrupt, the spirit of fervor lessened and indifference increasing.

They shall prophecy. Divine Providence may have ordained that we should recover, and once more behold the bones of S. Clare to provide a remedy against so many evils. It may have ordained, that the remembrance of her life should re-animate that fervor which invites to the practice of virtue, and leads and persuades to live a holy life. It is impossible, dear children, that, in the presence of these holy ashes, you will be able to close your ears to that voice which will say to you, in the depth of your hearts: Clare lived hollily; Clare died hollily. Why then should we not follow her example, we who are of the same country, who have the same nature, the same inclinations, the same obstacles, the same aids and even greater examples? Clare knew how to conquer the frailties of this same nature, the attacks of these same passions and the most trying difficulties, and gave, at all times, striking proofs of her fidelity, her love of God, and her constancy; and why should we not do the same, we who are her fellow-citizens? Roused by these thoughts and animated by these examples which speak louder than words, you will, dear children, return to the paths of justice and holiness, as we implore you “through the bowels of the mercy of our God.” [Luke I, 78]

And truly, this unexpected event, which in a few days the inhabitants of Assisi will witness, is, no doubt, a tender invitation from the Lord to move them to a better life. “Harden not your hearts!” [Psalms XCIV, 8] Thus God in His mercy, speaks to you dear children. Take heed, not to mar the splendor of this testify, when you shall behold the remains of your spotless fellow-citizen carried in procession through the festively attired streets of the happy city of Mount Subasio. Take care, dear children, that the sacred remains, as they pass by your dwellings, may there find peace and concord, that her blessing may come upon you, fill you, and remain forever in the bosom of your families. Beware, dear children, lest Clare should find in your homes, discord and sin; otherwise, her passing by, might prove fatal to you, as of old happened to the Phillistines and Bethsamites, when the ark of God passed through their territories. [I Kings VI, 19] Let all who may be defiled by sin, enter into themselves and purify their souls, before they appear in the presence of the sacred remains. Let iniquity disappear, even as of old the statue of Dagon in the temple of Azotus fell to the ground before the ark of the Lord. [I Kings V. 3]

Profit, dear children, by the salutary exhortations, give you by your Chief Pastor, who loves you dearly in the Lord. Yes, let the cry of his father voice enter into the depth of your hearts, and move you to imitate the virtues of Clare; just as the bare announcements of the finding of her body had filled you with joy and consolation. This joy, we repeat with pleasure, is just; for to you, God has reserved the honor to behold such wonders, and Assisi has the happiness to see her ancient glory renewed in your own days. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see.” [Isaias XI, 5]  (As found in Father Marianus Flege, The Princess of Poverty: Saint Clare of Assisi and the Order of Poor Ladies. Published originally by the Poor Clares of the Monastery of Saint Clare, Evansville, Indiana, in 1900, and republished by Neumann Press, January, 1991, pp. 190-194.)