Patroness of those with Heart Illnesses
Feast Date: August 17
Born in 1268 of a well to do family in Montefalco, Italy, Clare was a lively, sincere and intelligent daughter of Damiano and Iacopa Vengente. In Italian, her name was "Chiara" which means, "clear, bright, pure."
Already a veteran ascetic at the tender age of 20, Clare was suddenly thrust into the first of her three great trials. She began to experience spiritual upheavals in ther heart. Temptations assaulted her, conflicts raged inside her previously well-ordered emotional life. She was now subjected to doubt: she could not resolve whether or not God had abandoned her. This upheaval she endured 11 years.
The Bishop of nearby Spoleto sent his representative to Montefalco in order to supervise the election of the monaster'y new abbess. The unanimous choice was Clare. So began Clare's second great trial. Preferring to serve God and His people in a more humble way, she declined to accept the role and responsibility of Abbess. Finally, however, she humbly bowed to ther will and became their Abbess. For 16 years, Clare served as mother, teacher, and spiritual director of the nuns. She governed wisely.
Clare also loved the poor, the ill as much as those who were persecuted. To these desperate folk and anyone in misery who knocked at the monastery portal, she gave whatever she needed. Her heart was so forgiving, that she even helped those who has spoken evil of her and who has wished evil upon her.
What Clare possessed was spiritual strength. This power goes by different names in each century, but always remains the ability to disregard the body and its primitive needs in order to focus intensely upon the spirit. Clare was a mystic, but she was realist enough to obtain funds to build a church for her monastery, which would serve not only her nuns but also the citizens of Montefalco and all the pilgrims who cam to this mountain village seeking her insights. Like the abbey, the church was also dedicated to the Holy Cross.
Frescoes on the chapel wall portray some of Clare's conversations with Christ concerning His Cross. In 1294, when she was only 26, she asked Him, "Where are You going Lord?" He answered, "I have been searching the whole world over for a strong place to plant my Cross, but i have found none." Later He tells her, "Clare, i have found a place for my Cross. I shall place it in your heart." From that day on, Clare's body ached with acute pain, marked there by Christ Himself. Thus began the last of her three trials - that of physical illness.
By July of 1308, Clare's illness had become so severe that she was bedridden. On the 15th of August, she was asked to receive the holy oils of the sick. On the 16th, she asked that of her brother to be sent for. On the 17th, after confessing her sins to the monastery chaplain, she declared "There is little else for me to say, for today i shall be with Christ, because i go with Him."
Clare's body was embalmed and to this day lies in state, incorrupt, in the church of the Augustinian nuns of Montefalco, Italy. Her Heart bears the marks of the Passion, the Cross and the instruments of Christ's Passion, just as she had said. Pope Leo XIII declared Clare a Saint on December 8, 1881 at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish
C. Raymundo Ave., Caniogan
Pasig City 1606 Philippines
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