Clare of Assisi

Saint Clare's Basilica in Assisi, Italy
Today is the feast day for Saint Clare, the woman who lived in Assisi and began a convent, The Poor Clares, that kept a rule of life similar to Saint Francis. She often gets lost in the lore of Francis, but is a saint in her own right, and worthy of that recognition through her life, spiritual direction and writings. Here are a few quotes together with photos we took in Assisi a couple of years ago.

"Love God, serve God; everything is in that."

"Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation! So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness which God himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him."

"O blessed poverty, who bestows eternal riches on those who love and embrace her! O holy poverty, to those who possess and desire you God promises the Kingdom of Heaven and offers, indeed, eternal glory and blessed life! O God-centered poverty, whom the Lord Jesus Christ who ruled and now rules heaven and earth, who spoke and things were made, condescended to embrace before all else!"

"If you suffer with Him, you shall reign with Him, if you weep with Him, you shall rejoice with Him; if you die with Him on the cross of tribulation, you shall posses heavenly mansions in the splendor of the saints and, in the Book of Life, your name shall be called glorious among men."

"Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world which passes like a shadow. Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you."