A beautiful quote about St. Clare from Pope Alexander IV, the Pontiff who canonized her as a Saint:
“O Clare, whom God showered with dazzling gifts, you are a clear mirror given to the world….Blessed Clare and splendid light, we look on you with great admiration…During your life, you were resplendent; after your death, you still enlighten us.”
What a great blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm a secular franciscan, with a lot of love in my heart for St. Clare and St. Francis.
I particularly love the image of St. Clare as a mirror, which is an image that Alexander IV took from her own writings. Her name means light, and that light is not from her, originally, but shines in her life, because of her great love, her pure devotion, to our Lord, to the Gospel life, lived out in a Franciscan way. She is a model for contemplative prayer.
I've always felt that Our Blessed Mother Mary is the model for all Christians, "she took all these things and treasured them in her heart", and that St. Clare brought freshness and light to her age, and ours, by bringing us back to that image. Just as Mary always points us to Christ, St. Clare's contemplative life directs us to contemplating the sacred mystery of our own redemption, through the saving work of Christ.
St. Clare pray for us!
Warren