On this day we celebrate the feast of St. Clare.
For some beautiful Latin, click here. It's the Bull of Canonization of St. Clare of Assisi by Pope Alexander IV, "Given at Anagni, the sixth day before the Calends of October, in the first year of our pontificate." (1255.)
"CLARA CLARIS PRAECLARA meritis, magnae in caelo claritate gloriae, ac in terra splendore miraculorum sublimium clare claret."
The English translation is beside the Latin, but it's hardly needed. The Pope's use of alliteration makes his meaning clear.
Click here for a page of links about St. Clare, including this one for Giuseppe Cesari's "St Clare with the Scene of the Siege of Assisi."
Click here for the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Clare of Assisi.
In today's Liturgy of the Hours, the Reading is a letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague.
Click here for more of the writings of St. Clare at The Franciscan Experience.
Click here to read the Rule of St. Clare, the first we know of written by a woman.
A very happy feast day to all Poor Clares, to all Franciscans, and to all who have benefited from their example, their contributions, and their prayers!
