Peace

Good morning! The world is in turmoil; there is war, evil, the cult of lies, and great unrest. It is a hard time to be here on our suffering planet. But, as Clarissa Pinkola Estes says, “Do not lose heart. We were made for these times.” Perhaps, but in my discontent and anxious moments, focus has been on mysticism and mystics lately. It is calming for me, reassuring. Doing what I can in the battle that rages in the world then finding solace in the good and the sweet. 

Recently, Clare of Assisi popped up in my life. As a recovering Catholic, I am very familiar with many of the saints…but so many are male. Clare was a refreshing change, and a saint that was unfamiliar. We have all heard,and probably love, St. Frances of Assisi. Clare was one of his followers. This is what I learned about her. 

Chiara Offreduccio was born on 16,1194, in Assisi. She was born into wealth, the noble class, she was the beautiful eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Her mother was very devout and Claire followed in her footsteps. As a young girl, Clare dedicated herself to prayer. 

At 18-years-old, she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio and asked him to help her live according to the Gospel. On Palm Sunday in 1212, Clare left her father’s home and went to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet with Francis. While there, Clare’s hair was cut off, and she was given a plain robe and veil in exchange for her rich gown.

Clare joined the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, but her father found her and attempted to force her back into his home. She refused. She moved to another Benedictine convent to avoid further confrontation with her father. Clare’s sister, Catarina, taking the name of Agnes, joined her at this monastery. Over time, other women joined them, who also wanted to live in simplicity and seclusion from the world. They lived in a poorhouse, were silent most of the time, wore no shoes and ate no meat. Their work consisted of manual labor and prayer. They were very happy. This group of women became known as the order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano. 

For a brief time in 1216, St. Francis assisted them, but Clare was the abbess of the order. While in that position, she defended them from attempts of ruling prelates to impose their rule on them. The women remained independent and living by their own rule. As Francis grew old and infirm, the sisters, now called the Order of Saint Clare, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, nursed him until his death. 

Some say that Clare worked miracles and was a mystic. For certain, Clare was a rebel and a renegade. She broke rules and opened the way for others to have their own experience of sacred. Most often, religious and political leaders don’t know what to do with these holy troublemakers, so they canonize them! 

Given the time in history, Clare was a real upstart, and things worked out just fine for her. A loving, gentle, prayerful life for her and those who followed. Her legacy lives on and she is a saint. 

In the words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes: “It is hard to say which one of the current egregious matters has rocked people’s worlds and beliefs more. Ours is a time of almost daily jaw-dropping astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.”

It is a time of divisiveness and anxiety, but there are places we can go and things we can do to find peace. I wish you peace over the next week. May you find your place of comfort. I leave you with this because we all need to be an instrument of peace!

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;and

where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.