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 but she was still searching. After hearing St. Francis preaching, she left with her sister and joined him. She later started the order of nuns named, The Poor Claires They help the poor as does the Fransiscains. Once when her convent was about to be attacked, She took the monstrace which held the holy host of Christ, and held it in front of the gate. The attackers left them.  When she was near death, and too ill to attend mass, a vision of the services would appear upon the wall for her to see. She was a good friend of st. Francis. Even now, the Poor Claires help the poor and down trodden. Here is a painting of her at her death.  The following is an actual letter from St. Claire to blessed Agnes of Prague. He [Christ] is the splendor of eternal glory, "the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without cloud." Behold, I say, the birth of this mirror. Behold [Christ's] poverty even as he was laid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility, what marvelous poverty! The King of angels, the Lord of heaven and earth resting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his humility, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he endured to redeem the human race. Then, in the depths of this very mirror, ponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the cross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself, from his position on the cross, warned passers-by to weigh carefully this act, as he said: "All of you who pass by this way, behold and see if there is any sorrow like mine." Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: "I will be mindful and remember, and my soul will be consumed within me." |
