The Breviary says of her: "Following the example of St. Francis, she distributed all her possessions among the poor. She fled from the noise of the world and betook herself to a country chapel, where St. Francis himself sheared off her hair and clothed her with a penitential garb (on March 18, 1212, at the age of eighteen). Then she resided at the Church of St. Damian, where the Lord provided for her a goodly number of companions. So she established a community of nuns and acted as their superior at the wish of St Francis. For forty-two years she directed the nunnery with zeal and prudence, her own life serving as a constant sermon for her sisters to emulate. Of Pope Innocent IV she requested the privilege that she and her community live in absolute poverty. She was a most perfect follower of St. Francis of Assisi.

"When the Saracens were besieging Assisi and were preparing to attack the convent, St. Clare asked to be assisted as far as the entrance, for she was ill. In her hand she carried a vessel containing the blessed Eucharist as she prayed: O Lord, do not deliver over to beasts the souls that praise You! (Ps. 73). Protect Your servants, for You have redeemed them by Your precious Blood. And in the midst of that prayer a voice was heard, saying: Always will I protect you ! The Saracens took to flight."

Heroic in suffering (she was sick for twenty-seven years), she was canonized only two years after her death. Thomas of Celano coined the saying: Clara nomine, vita clarior, clarissima moribus.

Clare was the first flower in the garden of the Poor Man of Assisi. Poor in earthly goods, but rich in her utter poverty, she was a replica of Jesus, poor in the crib and on the Cross. At her time the Church generally and many Church men were enmeshed in financial matters and political maneuvering. Through the renewal of the ideal of poverty, St. Francis effected a "reform of Christian life in head and members."

In our twentieth century there still remain large areas with millions suffering under extreme poverty. Poverty in itself is no virtue; but it should be made into a virtue. Let us recall a few of the examples and texts from holy Scripture which show how precious poverty is and what deep reverence we should have toward it. Christ was poor. His entrance into the world and His departure from it took place in circuмstances of greatest need. He had no house wherein to be born, no crib; no house wherein to die, no deathbed. Poverty stood watch at birth and remained to see His death. "The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matt. 3:20).

At least we can be moderate and frugal, and thereby find the way to the spirit of Christian poverty. St. Clare, help us.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-08-11

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This exquisite seven-century-old devotion, broadly speaking a litany, was composed and was daily recited by the Seraphic Mother St. Clare of Assisi, foundress of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Ladies or Clares. St. Clare's devotion of the Five Wounds, as reproduced here, is from an appendix in The Princess of Poverty, by Father Marianus Fiege, O.M.Cap., published 1900 with imprimatur of the Capuchin Provincial of England, second edition 1909 with imprimatur of Bishop Chatard of Indianapolis, by the Poor Clares of Evansville, Indiana. The version given in Fr. Lasance's Prayer-Book for Religious, pp. 696-9, is substantially the same but there are verbal variations not consonant with the Poor Clares' own docuмent. The litany is approved by the Holy See for private devotion, and in 1885 was enriched by Pope Leo XIII with an indulgence of 300 days, once a day.


Prayer:

Praise and honor be given Thee, O my Lord Jesus Christ, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Right Hand. By this adorable wound, I beseech Thee to pardon me all the sins I have committed by thoughts, words and deeds, by neglect in Thy service, and by self-indulgence, both waking and sleeping. Grant me the grace that, by a devout and frequent remembrance of Thy Holy Passion, I may honor Thy sacred wounds and the death which Thou didst endure for love of me; and that, by chastising my body, I may testify my gratitude for Thy sufferings and Thy death: Who livest and reignest, world without end. R. Amen. Our Father (silently). Hail, Mary (silently).

Praise and honor be given Thee, O most amiable Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Left Hand. By this holy wound, I beseech Thee to have pity on me and to change within me whatever is displeasing to Thee. Grant me to be victorious over Thine enemies, so that, by the power of Thy grace, I may overcome them; and do Thou, by Thy holy and adorable death, deliver me from all dangers, present and to come, and make me worthy to share in the glory of Thy Blessed Kingdom: Who livest and reignest, world without end. R. Amen. Our Father (silently). Hail, Mary (silently).

Praise and honor be given Thee, O sweetest Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Right Foot. By this holy and adorable wound, I beseech Thee to enable me to bring forth worthy fruits of penance for my sins. I humbly entreat Thee, for the sake of Thine adorable death, to keep me, day and night, in Thy holy will, to preserve me from all adversity of soul and body, and, on the dreadful day of judgment, to deal with me according to Thy mercy, that I may obtain eternal joys: Who livest and reignest, world without end. R. Amen. Our Father (silently). Hail, Mary (silently).

Praise and honor be given Thee, O sweet and merciful Jesus, by reason of the Sacred Wound in Thy Left Foot. By this adorable wound, I beseech Thee to grant me pardon and full remission of all my sins, so that, with Thine aid, I may escape the rigors of justice. I entreat Thee, O good and merciful Jesus, for the sake of Thy Holy Death, to grant that at the hour of my death, I may have the grace to confess my sins with a perfect contrition, to receive the adorable Sacrament of Thy Body and Thy Blood, and likewise, the holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction for my eternal salvation: Who livest and reignest, world without end. R. Amen. Our Father (silently). Hail, Mary (silently).

Praise and honor be given Thee, O good and sweetest Jesus, by reason of the Wound in Thy Sacred Side. By this adorable wound and by that immense mercy shown Longinus and to us all, in allowing Thy Sacred Side to be opened, I beseech Thee, O good Jesus, that as in Baptism Thou didst purify me from original sin, so now Thou wouldst be pleased, by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood, Which is offered up this day over the whole world, to deliver me from all evils, past, present, and to come. I entreat Thee, by Thy bitter death, to give me a lively faith, a firm hope, and perfect charity, so that I may love Thee with my whole heart, with my whole soul, and with all my strength. Uphold me by Thy grace in the practice of good works, so that I may persevere to the end in Thy holy service and glorify Thee in time and eternity. R. Amen. Our Father (silently). Hail, Mary (silently).

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee. R. Because, by Thy death and Thy precious blood, Thou hast redeemed the world.

Let us pray. O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast ransomed the human race by the five wounds of Thy Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: we beseech Thee, by the merits of His precious blood, to grant unto us, who, each day, venerate these same adorable wounds, to be delivered from a sudden and unprovided death: Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, Our Lord, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. R. Amen.

Hymn

O virgin Clare, enrapt in splendor,
You daughter of eternal light,
Today we mark your solemn passing
From earth to heaven's starry height.

By spurning earthly joy's so fleeting
You follow Christ, the Lamb of God;
You feed with Him among the lilies
That stud the cloister's fertile sod.

You guard with care the holy virgins;
To every virtue show the way;
You lead your group of saintly maidens
To Christ their Spouse in bridal array.

Beneath the humble Francis' banner
In three-fold strife for Christ unfurled,
You bravely march, a constant victor
O'er devil, flesh, and wicked world.

And now amid the starry heavens,
Enthroned in bliss with God on high,
Do grant that we who strive to follow
May on your guidance e'er rely.

To Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Be honor, glory, endless praise;
And may Saint Clare's incessant pleading
Obtain for us God's saving grace.