Saint Clare of Montefalco

Today is the day we honor St. Hyacinth. However, I found some information on another saint, Clare of Montefalco. Yet another saint who lived in the 'dark ages'. What follows seemed too incredible to pass up. The Order of the Augustinians still venerate this Saint even today. We should be so fortunate in our lives.

Like so many other towns in Umbria, Italy, Montefalco is a small city set on a hill. It overlooks the valley of Spoleto, and some distance to the north Assisi is visible. Here Clare Damiani was born about 1268. In Italian, her name was “Chiara,” which means “clear, bright, pure.” As a little girl of six she was placed in the convent of Saint Illuminata, where her sister Jane was superior.

From the beginning little Clare observed the rule of the Third Order of St Francis and added severe penances, keeping strict silence, taking only bread and water, and sleeping on the ground. About eight years later, Clare and the other sisters moved to a new convent, that of Santa Croce, which had been built for them on a nearby hill. During these years all of them followed the rule of the Third Order; but in 1290 the bishop of Spoleto substituted the rule of St Augustine.

After the death of her sister, Joan, in 1298, the bishop of nearby Spoleto to the south sent his representative to Montefalco in order to supervise the election of the monastery’s new abbess. The choice was unanimous: Clare. So began Clare’s second great trial. Preferring to serve God and his people in a more humble way, she declined to accept the role and responsibility of abbess. “An abbess must be holy and wise,” said Clare. “I am neither: I’m only twenty-four. Please choose someone else.” But the nuns would have none of it and insisted on their young and reluctant companion. “Clare! Clare! Clare!” they cried. Again she refused: “I want to be a nun, not an abbess. I want to serve you all at the most menial of tasks. Please!” But again the nuns would have none of it. She bowed to their will and she became their abbess.

One of Clare’s responsibilities was that of interpreting and reinforcing the Rule of St. Augustine. In truth, the Rule was simply a man-made charter outlining the chief phases in the pursuit of a dedicated God-oriented life. Even in this matter of the Rule, however, she knew she was only God’s instrument, for she would tell her nuns: “Who teaches the soul if not God?”

Clare distinguished herself by her spirit of prayer and penance and was then about thirty years old when she was chosen superior. Not only did she carry out her duties as a religious and a superior in an exemplary manner, but she exerted an extraordinary influence also on the outside world. She confuted heretics, converted sinners, reconciled families which were at odds with one another, made peace between neighboring warring towns, drove out devils, foretold future events, healed the sick, and raised the dead. During the latter part of her life, she also received the gifts of ecstasy and supernatural knowledge.

Frescoes on the chapel walls portray some of Clare’s conversations with Christ concerning his cross. In her talk with him in 1294 when she only twenty-six she asks him: “Where are you going, Lord?” He answers,”I’ve been searching the whole world over for a strong place to plant my Cross in. But I have not found one more suitable than your heart. You must receive it and allow it to take root.” Later he tells her. “Clare, I have finally found a place for my cross: I shall place it in your heart.” From that day on, Clare’s body ached with acute pain caused by the token of His Cross, marked there by Christ Himself.

Clare herself once told a sister in her convent: “If you seek the Cross of Christ, take my heart. There you will find the suffering Lord.”

When Saint Clare of Montefalco's heart was opened after her death, the Cross and other instruments of the Passion were found within, formed solidly in fibrous tissue. As an example, the crucifix was found to be about the size of a person's thumb. The corpus is white and clearly formed as if sculpted, except for the tiny wound of the lance, which is bright red. A white tissue covers the loins of the corpus. For this reason she is also called 'Saint Clare of the Cross.
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There were also three pellets found in the gall of St Clare. About the size of hazel nuts, they were found to be symbols of the Holy Trinity for the following reason - any single one of them weighed exactly the same as the other two, and any one of them equalled the weight of two or all three of them together. These pellets can still be seen.



Commending her sisters to her Franciscan brother, Father Francis Damiani, Saint Clare of Montefalco died at the age of forty on August 17, 1308, and was buried in the chapel of Santa Croce Convent. Later a church was built next to it and dedicated to her. Here her body, which has been preserved incorrupt in a most unusual manner, can still be seen; in fact, it seems to be that of a living person who is asleep. The miracle of liquefaction and ebullition of her blood has also taken place. The cult which had been paid to her as Blessed from the time of her death was approved in 1624; and in 1881 Pope Leo XIII canonized her.

To this day, her body lies in state, incorrupt, in the church of the Augustinian nuns at Montefalco, Italy.

History
Saint Clare was a religious sister who was especially devoted to the Passion of Christ. Once she saw a vision of Christ and offered her own heart as a place for Him to leave His Cross. When Sister Clare died, her heart was removed by a doctor and a small crucifix, about the size of a man’s thumb, was found imprinted on the muscles. Though she died in 1308, her body and her heart have not deteriorated, and Catholics often go to pray by her side and ask the Lord to make them as devoted to Him as she was.


The heart of St. Clare with its image of the crucifix

While you look at this picture, pray that God will make your heart as devoted to Jesus as Saint Clare’s was.


Saint Clare of Montefalco, pray for us!