St Clare of Assisi was born July 16 1194 in Assisi and died August 11 1253 at the age of 59. As a child, St Clare was devoted to prayer. At the age of 18 she heard St Francis of Assisi preach at a Lenten service at San Giorgio at Assisi and asked him to help her live according to the Gospel. On Palm Sunday March 20, 1212 St Clare went to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet St Francis. When she was there, she cut her hair and exchanged her gown for a plain robe and a veil. St Francis put St Clare in the convent of the Benedictine nuns of Sao Paolo. Her father tried to force St Clare to return home. St Clare refused and removed her veil to show her hair. A few days later St Francis sent her to Sant' Angelo in Panzo, which was also run …show more content…
Other women began to join St Clare and her sister and they were known as the 'Poor Ladies of San Damiano'. They lived a simple life of poverty and seclusion from others, they wore no shoes, ate no meat and kept relatively silent. San Damiano became the centre of St Clare's order. St Clare became the abbess of San Damiano in 1216. St Clare wanted to imitate St Francis' virtues and way of life. When St Francis was sick and of old age, St Clare took care of him. After his death, St Clare continued to promote the growth of her order until her death. St Clare died 11, August 1253 of natural causes. St Clare always looked up to St Francis as a spiritual father and enjoyed hearing him preach. Ten years after St Clare died, the name of the order was changed to the 'Order of Saint Clare'. On August 15, 1255 Pope Alexander IV canonised Clare as Saint Clare of Assisi. Construction of the Basilica of Saint Clare was completed in 1260 and her remains were moved there and buried beneath the high altar. Saint Clare is often shown in art carrying a monstrance, the small vessel in which the communion host is carried. This represents the time when she warded off the soldiers of Frederick II at the gates of her monastery by showing the Blessed Sacrament and kneeling in