On the night of Palm Sunday of 1211 (or 1212 according to some), a young noble woman of Assisi fled from her paternal home in order to reach clandestinely the little Church of the Porziuncula in Assisi, where Francis and his Friars lived. She desired to follow his evangelical ideal and with her newly received tonsure, she embarked on a life of penance and consecration which, at the time, was unusual and original. According to the sources in hand, the beginning of the conversion of Clare of Assisi is known based on this episode. Her period of penance will first begin at the Monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Paul, then at the Church of Sant’Angelo of Panzo, and lastly at the Church of San Damiano of Assisi. It was here that Clare began receiving different young women of the area and soon after from different social background and from all over the continent. Noteworthy is the originality of the evangelical intuition of St. Clare and the fact that she was the first medieval woman to draw up a rule for women, thus giving rise to a movement of extraordinary importance for the life of both the Church and the world.
We are now in the happy circumstance of celebrating 800 yrs of the founding of the Order of St. Clare. We want to celebrate the Spirit of St. Clare –which St. Agnes of Bohemia wrote to be kept always before the eyes as a point of departure (2Lag 11) – by recalling the beginning of our time of conversion and the need of living in a constant struggle toward holiness.
from the Communication's Office in Rome
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