feast of st. clare. intro

FEAST OF ST. CLARE

 It is always spring time in the hearts that love God and that is the reason, there is a fragrant wave pervading everywhere and the rays of gladness penetrating every nook and corner of this holy place. Yes dear friends, there is a throbbing joy and vibrating love enveloping our hearts, as we celebrate the feast of our venerable Mother St. Clare.

                We warmly welcome each one of you Rev. Frs, Srs, and friends to this solemn celebration.

                Clare was the third of 5 children born to a wealthy family of Assisi. The spirit worked within and framed Clare into a most pure Vessel. Docility to her parents, generosity and compassion for the poor and she found joy in prayer, night and day.

                Clare a young girl of nobility and wealth chose most austere poverty and the hidden life of prayer. Her ardent love towards God and towards humankind and every living creature is praise worthy. A motherly person, she was sensitive to every human and divine value and wished to acquire it at any cost.

                It is difficult to determine when and how Clare first met Francis- the popular young man who had turned his back on the military establishment and from the business world, but she probably heard him proclaim his message of penance and peace in the cities of Assisi.

                Even in her youth her attention was directed to the heavenly things. Thus on Palm Sunday March 18, 1212, when all the young ladies of Assisi customarily dressed in their finest and proudly processed to the Bishop for a Palm branch, rather than approaching the Bishop Clare remained in her place, prompting him to come to her. She accepted the Palm of Martyrdom in imitation of the suffering Christ. She was setting out with Christ and as the processional hymn echoed round the church everywhere, it must have lifted Clare’s heart in wave of worshipping love.

                On the following day, she went to Portungula where St. Francis and his brothers received her commitment to follow there in the pursuit of the Gospel life. For at that time mounting the wall of church at St. Damiano, he says ‘ come and help in building of this monastery of St. Damiano, for in  time to come, there will dwell here are ladies by whose marvellous and holy living the Lord will be glorified throughout His holy church.

                Thomas Celano proceeds to praise Clare and her sisters for their seated fort practice of charity, humility, virginity, abstinence, silence, patience and contemplation. Thus the Lady Clare truly shone in untarnished purity entered the brightness of eternal light as patron of Assisi.

                Clare was a strong, thoroughly convinced and heroic woman who would not the let the purity of Fancis’ Charism die, despite of the enormous forces and her own. She is the living witness that strongly shapes the consciousness of the Franciscan family and during that period and becomes a unwrittingly creative inventor of the religious order.

                 Dear friends, as we the sons and daughters celebrate the feast of our Mother Clare, let us ask the same grace from the Lord to follow her footprints, to meet Jesus more closely. Let us pray earnestly for ourselves and for every member of our institutes during this Eucharistic celebration that our mission may be fulfilled and may we have a discerning spirit in all that we do. May our mother Clare, help us to be truly Christ bearers in our daily life, bringing Christ into every sphere of our life and relationships.