Look Into This Mirror

One of the best loved Saints is without a doubt Saint Clare of Assisi who lived in the 13th century and was a contemporary of St Francis. Her testimony shows us how indebted the Church is to courageous women, full of faith like her, who can give a crucial impetus to the Church's renewal.

Born in 1193, Clare belonged to a wealthy, aristocratic family. She renounced her noble status and wealth to live in humility and poverty, adopting the lifestyle that Francis of Assisi recommended.…  Especially at the beginning of her religious experience, Francis of Assisi was not only a teacher to Clare…but also a brotherly friend. The friendship between these two Saints is a very beautiful and important aspect. Indeed, when two pure souls on fire with the same love for God meet, they find in their friendship with each other a powerful incentive to advance on the path of perfection. Friendship is one of the noblest and loftiest human sentiments which divine Grace purifies and transfigures.

In the Convent of San Damiano, Clare practiced heroically the virtues that should distinguish every Christian: humility, a spirit of piety and penitence and charity. Although she was the superior, she wanted to serve the sick sisters herself and joyfully subjected herself to the most menial tasks… Her faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was so great that twice a miracle happened. Simply by showing to them the Most Blessed Sacrament distanced the Saracen mercenaries, who were on the point of attacking the convent of San Damiano and pillaging the city of Assisi.

St Clare's spirituality, the synthesis of the holiness she proposed is summed up in the fourth letter she wrote to St Agnes of Prague…. She wrote: "Happy, indeed, is the one permitted to share in this sacred banquet so as to be joined with all the feelings of her heart (to Christ) whose beauty all the blessed hosts of the Heavens unceasingly admire, whose affection moves, whose contemplation invigorates, whose generosity fills, whose sweetness replenishes, whose remembrance pleasantly brings light, whose fragrance will revive the dead, and whose glorious vision will bless all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, because the vision of him is the splendour of everlasting glory, the radiance of everlasting light, and a mirror without tarnish. Look into this mirror every day, O Queen, spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually examine your face in it, so that in this way you may adorn yourself completely, inwardly and outwardly.... In this mirror shine blessed poverty, holy humility, and charity beyond words..." (Fourth Letter to Blessed Agnes of Prague, FF, 2901-2903).

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

General Audience, 15 September 2010

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100915_en.html

Breakfast in the refectory of San Damiano after Mass
where we prayed in the choir stalls used by Saint Clare and the Sisters

During the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO) Executive Committee Meeting held in Assisi in September 2004, graciously hosted by our Ecclesiastical Assistant, Fr. GianMaria Polidoro, OFM, the eight members walked in the footsteps of Saint Francis and Saint Clare as we worked in this medieval mountaintop village.  Daily Masses included reflections on Franciscan spirituality as we united in prayer around altars in Chiesa Nuova, San Damiano, Santa Maria degli Angeli, and the Hermitage cave on Mount Subasio.

Sister Chiara Anastasia speaking to WUCWO Executive Committee

Poor Clare Sister Chiara Anastasia gave a beautiful biographical sketch of St. Clare of Assisi as we gathered within the cloistered Monastery of Santa Chiara.  She offered selected quotes from Clare’s writings to guide an exchange to assist us in allowing “the Gospel to have ever more room in our hearts, dreams, projects and decisions.”  Sister described Clare as “a woman of Spirit who has a very special knack for drawing out the Spirit potential in women from every part of the world, background and walk of life no matter what the issues they are called upon to address.”



Amelita Dayrit-Go, Vice President General; Gillian Badcock, Secretary General;
Stella Bellefroid, Treasurer General; Karen Hurley, Vice President for North America
in the piazza of the Church of Santa Chiara



Stella Bellefroid; Maria Eugenia Diaz de Pfennich, President General;
Gillian Badcock; Fr. GianMaria Polidoro, OFM, Ecclesiastical Assistant; Amelita Dayrit Go

Elisabeth Twissa, Vice President for Africa; Amelita, Maria Eugenia, and Fr. GianMaria

World and Church history from medieval times to the current day have been impacted by work and prayer taking place on the mountain and plain of Assisi.  How appropriate that WUCWO history would also be shaped on this peaceful, holy ground!

Saint Clare was a woman of prayer and of peace who lived each moment in union with God.  How does the light of her life inspire you to have the same strength of character and love of God and neighbor?  Has God given you a teacher or friend to help you “advance on the path of perfection”?  Does your love of God give a “powerful incentive” to another soul to look into the “mirror without tarnish”?

Sunset from the Piazza of the Church of Santa Chiara