St. Clare was born in the year 1193, to the wealthy Lord Favorino Sciffi and his pious wife, Ortolana. They were of noble rank and lived in a castle just outside Assisi, Italy. The couple was overjoyed at her birth for they had been without children. Some time before, Clare’s mother had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and prayed in the very cave where Jesus was born. She prayer there that, if it would please God, that He might give her a child. Their prayers were answered and God blessed them with a daughter, whom they named Clare which means ‘light’ or ‘clear’. When Lady Ortolana had once been kneeling before a crucifix, praying God to help her in giving birth, she had heard a voice say: "Do not fear. You will give birth to a light which shall illumine the whole world." In this way, St. Clare of Assisi was born.

As a young child, Clare grew up among nobility, however she had a eager desire for penance. In imitation of the desert hermits, she would keep track of the number of prayers she had said with little pebbles in her lap. Even though she had to wear elegant clothes due to her rank, she wore hairshirts and other such garments beneath her fine ones as a constant reminder of the sufferings Christ endured for her.

When Clare reached the age of 15, many noblemen asked for her hand in marriage. However, Clare did not want to marry. She was determined to give herself only and entirely to God. But she was not sure what kind of life she should lead in order to do that. So she begged her parents to let her remain at home for the time being, which they allowed. Some time later, a relative of Clare’s spoke to her of a certain Francis who had left friends, riches, and home for the love of Christ. Hearing this, her heart burned with a desire to do the same.

Finally, Clare was able to speak with this Francis, who was none other than the great St. Francis of Assisi. She told him of her intense longing to follow the way of life he had made for himself and his monks who had joined him. St. Francis could see that this young woman of 18 was very gifted. She had an innocence of heart that shone a fervent love of God and a deep contempt for the world and all it offers. Still, Francis wanted to know for sure that she was really sincere in her desires. So he tested her with the hard command:
"Lay aside your rich clothing, put on sackcloth, and go through the town begging if you wish me to believe you." Clare immediately returned home, covered herself in a sackcloth dress, and walked about the streets of her native city, begging for bread for the Love of God.

Having seen her fortitude and that it was truly God Who called her to a life of penance, St. Francis at last told her to dress in her richest and finest clothes on the upcoming Palm Sunday, to go to the church for the blessing of the palms, and then to meet him at the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, where he would give her the habit.

On Palm Sunday, Clare dressed herself with such care and magnificence that both her mother and her younger sister were astonished. Afterwards, Clare returned home, knowing in her heart that was going to be leaving all that she had held dear forever.

That night, Clare quietly slipped out of her castle home, together with her relative that had first spoke to her of St. Francis. In attempting to leave the castle through a small unused door, Clare found that the door, that was usually left unlocked, had been blocked up by large stones. Clare was determined and would not let anything shake her resolution. Setting to work, she forced and shoved the boulders out of the way, and cleared away enough to fit through an open space. Here she said goodbye to the world forever, as she slipped away and hurried to be made a bride of Christ...forever.

When the pair reached the church of St. Mary of the Angels, they found St. Francis and his monks ready to begin. Still beautifully attired, Clare's first desire was that her hair would be cut off and this was done by St. Francis himself. Clare then exchanged her costly dress for a coarse ash-colored habit and her jewels for a thick cord tied about her waist. As she was making her vows, the dress and jewels were distributed among the poor. She was now to live at a Benedictine Abbey until Francis found a better place for her simple state of life.

When Favorino Sciffi found out that his daughter had become a nun, his fury was beyond measure. Immediately, a troop of angry men set out for the Abbey, determined to either persuade or force Clare to leave the religious life. They argued that it was foolish for Clare to throw away all of her grand opportunities in life and instead take the habit. They said she was bringing disgrace upon her family by behaving in such a strange manner. Their arguments fell upon deaf ears, and Clare, seeing that they were resolved to bring her home, fled to the chapel and into the sanctuary. Her relatives pursued her and tried to drag her away, but so tenaciously did she cling to the altar that the altar cloths were almost torn off in the struggle. Not expecting such resistance, the men hesitated.

Clare then exposed her head with so little hair and exclaimed, "Know all, that I desire no other bridegroom than Jesus Christ. Understanding well what I was doing, I chose Him and I will never leave Him." After this declaration, the men realized the fruitlessness of trying to argue with her or force her to come home, so they left her in peace.

Francis, warned by what had happened, realized that it was dangerous for Clare to remain in the city. He advised her to go to a safer place. So she sought refuge in St. Angelo of Panso's, a convent outside the city, belonging to the Benedictines.

Soon afterwards, Clare grew concerned for the spiritual welfare of her younger sister Agnes. God desired Agnes to lead the same kind of life Clare had been called to. Clare prayed fervently for her sister to obtain this grace and the strength to follow it. God was pleased to hear her prayers, for only a fortnight had passed since Clare's religious profession when Agnes came to follow in Clare’s footsteps. Clare joyfully embraced her sister and welcomed her to the spiritual haven she now called home.

However, their relatives became even more enraged when they discovered that Agnes had followed Clare’s example. The day after Agnes left, twelve members of the family went out to the Convent of St. Angelo. At first they pretended to be kind, and in favor of what the Clare had done. They had given up on trying to make Clare change her mind. But during their conversation with the two girls, one of the visitors suddenly turned to Agnes and roughly said, "What right do you have to be here? You should be at home."

Agnes answered that she wanted to remain forever at Clare's side. At this, one of the knights, forgetting his manhood, struck the girl with his clenched fist, knocking her to the ground. He grabbed her, and joined by the others, tried to drag her away. Agnes desperately called to her sister for help. As Clare was powerless to save her sister, she turned fervently to Almighty God.

The relatives hurried out of the monastery with their captive and were already congratulating themselves for their success. But they had not gotten very far, when all of the sudden Agnes became so heavy, that they could not go any further. All their strength united failed to lift her. Enraged at this defeat, Monaldi, Agnes' uncle, raised his sword to kill her. But God prevented this evil by a miracle. Monaldi’s arm fell withered to his side, and for a long time that arm caused him excruciating pain. It was only cured sometime later by the intercession of Agnes.

As the men stood in consternation at this frightful miracle, Clare rushed forward, and told them to leave Agnes with her. So they left, leaving Agnes to rise, all bleeding and wounded, and to return to the convent of St. Angelo. Shortly after, Francis clothed her also in the habit of her sister.

After this event, Francis moved the two sisters to the church of San Damiano. There they continued to serve God with all cheerfulness. Soon this life of holiness bore its fruit. Clare's virtues became known far and wide. Several devout women came and asked to join her way of life and wanted to be received as her spiritual children.

Clare's own mother, among the rest, felt the influence of her daughter's virtues. Ten years after the saint was first consecrated to God her mother joined her. Sir Favorino had died and though the devout Ortolana missed her husband very much, she had no reason now to stay behind in the world. She was free to take the vows of a religious.

Lady Ortolana then placed Beatrice, her youngest daughter, under the care of Monaldi, the girl’s uncle, and entered the religious family of her saintly Clare. But when Beatrice was eighteen, she joined her mother and her sisters in the life of the cloister. She became the foundress of many communities and died only a short time before her sister Clare. Among Clare's first sixteen companions were several others of her relatives and three ladies of the illustrious house of the Ubaldini in Florence.

St. Francis soon saw that so many nuns needed a superior. Everyone knew that Clare was best qualified to govern them. But she saw herself as the most unworthy and the least capable among the sisters. When St. Francis told her that he wished her to be the superior, she begged him not to do it. For three years, Francis granted her wish, and she was not burdened with the responsibility of being superior. But finally, God would not put the task off any longer.

"It is God's will that you should be the superior." Francis told her at last. Clare then yielded to the Will of God. The young abbess was able and energetic in fulfilling her duties. She soon founded convents in Perugia, Arezzo, Padua, Rome, Venice, Mantua, Bologna, Milan, Spoleto, and in most of the principal cities of Germany.

Clare also founded a convent in Florence. But this one cost her dearly, for she had to send her own dear sister Agnes to be its abbess. Agnes was chosen for this duty when St. Francis consulted Cardinal Ugolino, the Protector of the two orders (the Franciscans and the Poor Clares). The Cardinal advised him to select Agnes to govern this new convent. For, after Clare, Agnes had the best qualities and virtues to be a good abbess. Agnes obediently and cheerfully accepted her new duties. Under her leadership, the nuns in Florence became very devout. But it was still a great sacrifice to be separated from Clare. For thirty years they did not see each other. Her consolation during her stay in that city was the affectionate letters she received from her sister from time to time.

People marveled at how men and women, under Francis and Clare, could live lives of such poverty and sacrifice. So much so, that Pope Gregory IX wanted to alleviate the poverty of the nuns. Clare respectfully asked him not to do this.

"Absolve me from my sins, Holy Father," she said, "but not from the observance of poverty."

It was a severe life of penance, prayer, and almost unbroken silence, she and her sisters slept on the bare floor and went barefoot. They ate only the coarsest food; and ate no more than they needed. People ridiculed the strictness of the order, saying that women of noble rank would not be able to endure such a life. But nonetheless, Clare felt convinced that she was doing the Will of God. And God was pleased with His servants, and took care of all their needs.

One day it happened during a famine that there was only a single loaf of bread in the convent for a community of more than fifty persons. Not only this, but Clare knew that the Friars of St. Francis did not have enough to eat either. So she sent half of the loaf to them. Then she ordered the sister in charge of the refectory to place the other half on the table. Dinnertime came, and the community as usual went to the refectory. Grace was said, and all sat down in their places at the table. Meanwhile Clare was praying to God for help, and her prayer was heard in a marvelous way. The whole community took bread from that half loaf and it was miraculously kept from diminishing. They ate as much as they were used to eating when they had plenty of bread.

Clare knew that poverty and humility go hand in hand. If the nuns were humble, they would cherish their life of poverty. And if they cherished poverty, they would make generous sacrifices for the love of God.

Clare had so wonderful a spirit of prayer that she would often spend a long time meditating on the sacred Passion of Jesus. She prayed during the night, and was the first to rise in the morning. Each morning she woke the sisters, lit the lamps, rang the bell, and went to her place for the Divine Office. Though Clare was abbess, she loved to serve her sisters and when they were sick, she took care of them most patiently and charitably.

The devil once appeared to her in a hideous form, but Clare told him, "They who serve the Lord need never be afraid." And immediately he disappeared.

St. Clare herself wore a rough cord studded with thirteen hard knots; and over that she threw a long tunic made of bristles. Wearing them was extremely painful, as the following story shows.

In the convent there was a holy nun that Clare trusted with the knowledge of her secret penances. When this nun learned of Clare’s painful tunic, she wanted to have such a sacrifice for herself, and so she asked Clare for it. The saint firmly refused at first. But then, seeing how strongly her friend wanted it, she gave the tunic to her. The nun was so excited to have such a sacrifice…until she put the tunic on. It was so painful that she could not hide her suffering. Everyone could see she was upset about something, but except for Clare, none of them knew what was bothering her. After a few days, unable to take it anymore, she took the tunic off, and returned it to Clare. She saw that Clare had been right when she first refused to give it to her.

Clare had the wisdom to see that while we all must suffer, God has made each soul different. God may give one person the grace and strength to endure incredible sufferings. If another person could not survive the weight of such a cross, that does not mean that they are less pleasing to God. It simply means that God created them to serve Him in other ways, and to endure different crosses. It is more pleasing to offer to God the crosses He intends for us to carry. It was Clare’s fervent desire that all her nuns mortify themselves, exactly in the way that God wanted them to.

Clare had a deep love for her spiritual daughters. Even after she had grown old and quite infirm, she would wash and kiss the feet of her sisters when they came home from begging alms for the convent, deeming it an honor to touch the feet of those who had just been doing the will of God. She was prompt at every duty. In honor of the Blessed Sacrament, the saint enjoyed and spent much time, even when she was sick, making altar linens for churches in need. She would send pieces of her handiwork to churches and chapels all over Assisi.

Clare was always the first in the choir, and delighted to listen to her sisters sing the praises of God. For, as Our Lord says, "Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." However, one Christmas night, she was too sick to go to the choir while the community was singing Matins. But instead of complaining, she was resigned to God’s Will, and He rewarded her in a wonderful way. Suddenly, Clare heard from afar the voices of St. Francis's monks, and she could tell exactly the very words of the psalms which were chanted as a welcome to the new-born King.

Around the year 1223 Francis and some of his Friars went with Clare and a few of her nuns to the pray in the churches of San Damiano and St. Mary of the Angels. After this, they all sat down to dinner. St. Francis began to speak with all of them about the love men owe to God their Father. As he went on, his heart became inflamed with such love. His inspired words penetrated the hearts of the listeners.

Meanwhile a crowd from Assisi and the neighboring villages came hurrying in great excitement to where the religious were gathered, for the convent and the woods nearby seemed to be ablaze. When the crowd reached the spot which appeared to be the scene of the fire, they were amazed to see whole companies of friars and nuns, unharmed, rapt in ecstasy. Then the people knew that it was not an earthly fire, but the sacred flame which burned in the hearts of those holy religious.

Since Clare first left the world to follow God, she and her nuns experienced the Hand of God in many miraculous ways, as has already been seen. But one of the most outstanding events in the lives of those nuns took place when the valley of Spoleto was under attack by the Moors, who had been hired by Frederick II of Germany. When he left the valley, he left an army of about twenty thousand men, at a place now called Mura dei Mori - "Walls of the Moors". The Moors did terrible damage in the valley and the surrounding country. Then they came to attack Assisi. San Damiano’s convent was not far beyond the city walls. So it naturally was one of the first places to attack. The enemy felt sure it would be easy to overtake the convent, as no resistance could be offered by defenseless women.

One dark night, the Moors scaled the high walls of the convent and made their way into the outer courtyard. At the first shout of the soldiers, the nuns were filled with fear, and ran in terror to Clare, who was sick in bed.

"Fear not, my children, Jesus will defend you," she said. Then she told them to bring the Sacred Host, contained in a monstrance, to the convent gate, in a place where the infidels could not help but see it once they reached the top of the wall. This done, she had the nuns carry her there. Prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament, she cried, ''Can it be, O my God, that we have been gathered together here, and brought up in Your Holy Love, only to fall into the hands of these merciless infidels!"

As she prayed, a sweet voice like that of a child seemed to come from the Host. "I will protect you for ever," It said.

Then the saint's confidence grew stronger, and she cried, "Lord, defend also this city, which takes care of us for the love of You."

To which the heavenly Voice answered, "This city shall suffer, but it shall be defended by My protection and your prayers."

Then Clare took the monstrance in her hand. She mounted the wall, and held it up before the eyes of the soldiers, who were just going to leap into the inner court. The Moors, blinded by the light, which streamed in brilliant rays from the Blessed Sacrament, fled the convent. And the whole force, giving up the attack, fled from the place. Shortly after this, Vitalis Aversa, one of Frederick's ablest generals, laid siege to Assisi. When Clare heard of this, she gathered her nuns, and reminded them of their duty to pray for the protection of Assisi.

"Its citizens," she said, "have always been generous to our community, and now the time has come to repay them."

All that day and the following night without interruption, Clare and her nuns scattered ashes upon their heads, wept, and sighed before God, begging for His Divine Mercy on behalf of the city. Their prayers were heard, for soon a powerful force of soldiers came to the aid of Assisi, and the enemies were driven away utterly defeated.

As the years went by, the nuns could plainly see how God was always watching out for them, in times of peace and danger, joy and sorrow.

But in the year 1226, Clare and her nuns were under the weight of a heavy cross. This cross was shared by all of the men and women who had followed St. Francis of Assisi to lives of prayer and penance in the cloister. For that year, St. Francis lay, exhausted, at the point of death. When Clare and her nuns heard of his sickness, they wrote him a letter, telling him how grieved they felt because his illness. St. Francis sent them in return, a copy of verses he had written in praise of our Divine Lord, together with a letter of spiritual encouragement. What follows is all that is left now of that letter:

"I, brother Francis, worthless though I be, choose to imitate the life and poverty of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and that of his holy Mother, and I hope to persevere in my choice till the end. You, whom I regard as my sisters, I entreat and urge to conform yourselves to this life of poverty, since its holiness is exceedingly great. Be careful not to swerve in the least from this manner of life and do not listen to any advice which would lead you to depart from it."

Towards the end of the letter, he assured the nuns that they should see him soon. This promise was fulfilled on Sunday, October 5, 1226, the day after his death. His body was carried in procession to the Church of San Damiano, where Clare and her community were awaiting it. Here the procession stopped in order to give these holy religious the consolation of seeing and kissing the Stigmata, the wounds of Jesus, in Francis’ holy hands and feet.

As Clare grew older she did not lessen her sacrifices. She once said: "How can man complain when he beholds Christ hanging upon the cross and covered with blood!"

When Clare had reached the age of sixty years, she became so weak that the Provincial of the Franciscans came to the convent to give her the Last Sacraments. After her Holy Communion, her soul's joy beamed upon her face. That same day, Pope Innocent IV, who was then staying at Perugia, came to Assisi to visit the saintly abbess. He remained by her side for some time and his soul was inspired by Clare's conversation and example. He saw with grief that she could not live long; but he could see, too, that she was far from being upset at the thought of her approaching death. Indeed she was more joyous than ever before and she was never heard to complain of the severity or the length of her sickness.

Agnes, Clare's dear little sister, had returned from Florence some time ago. She was very sad at the thought of being separated from one who had been both a sister and a mother to her. Throwing herself at Clare's feet, she entreated Clare not to let them be separated; but to ask God, that, if it be His Will, they both might be permitted to leave this world together. Clare felt the deepest compassion for Agnes. Fondly, she embraced her sister, putting her arms around Agnes's neck.

"Dear sister," she said, "our separation shall not be for long. A few days, and you shall follow me, and we shall then be one in Heaven, as we have ever been one on Earth."

Then Clare received the Blessed Sacrament. The dying abbess spoke words of comfort to her weeping daughters as they knelt around her couch. She urged them to be faithful in their love of poverty and humility.

Then, with a joyful hope that she would soon be with God, she murmured, "Go confidently, my soul. Go confidently. For He who created you, has sanctified you, and has always protected you, and has loved you with a tender love. Blessed be You, O my Lord, Who has created me."

When her confessor spoke with her on the merits of patience, she said, "As long as I have had the grace to serve God in the religious state, no care, no penance, no sickness has seemed hard to me. Oh, how comforting it is to suffer for the love of Christ!"

The hour of her death drew near, and Clare prayed and asked that our Saviour's Passion be read to her, and while she listened, she had a vision of Our Lord and His blessed Mother. Mary came and bending over the dying saint, kissed her lovingly. A choir of virgins appeared with her, clothed in white, with golden crowns upon their heads. They threw a royal mantle over Clare’s worn habit and beckoned to her, and invited her to join them. And thus she did. On the 11th of August, 1253, Clare passed away.

Her body was carried to the church where her holy Father Francis had been carried years before, while many people followed in her honor. And there, some time later, a splendid church was built where her sacred relics were enshrined. Her nuns made this church their new home, so as to live by the tomb of their mother and foundress, whose virtues had shone so brightly, whose holiness had brought down God's blessing upon her Order, and whose name was soon to live forever in the glory of her Lord throughout the Catholic Church. For the great number of miracles obtained after her death through her intercession, and the heroic virtues which made her so remarkable, induced Pope Alexander IV, only two years later, to proclaim her a saint.