BOOKS

Franciscan sister takes a deeper look at St. Clare of Assisi

Reviewed by Andrew Junker | Sept. 17, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Since we are sitting roughly in between two feast days of great Franciscan saints — St. Clare of Assisi was Aug. 12; St. Francis of Assisi is Oct. 4 — a book reflecting on that order’s spirituality seems appropriate.

“Clare of Assisi: A Heart Full of Love,” by Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, is a wonderful examination of St. Clare’s life and her understanding of the faith. Both parts of the book are equally fascinating.

St. Clare was born to a noble family in Assisi and was 12 years younger than St. Francis. When she was about 18 years old, she ran away from home and was received into St. Francis’ community at the small church of the Portiuncula outside of Assisi.

Other women, including her sister and two cousins, soon joined Clare. As is the case with many new orders, St. Clare and her followers were misunderstood and even persecuted by local ecclesiastical authorities.

The problem, Sr. Delio writes, was that the cardinal protector of the Franciscans — who would later become Pope Gregory IX — “did not approve of the rising number of women’s communities (like Clare’s) that were living independently and in poverty.”

Instead, the cardinal wanted to force Clare and the other women into a more closed, monastic life, whereas Clare always envisioned a more evangelistic lifestyle like the Friars Minor.

She fought greatly for her vision, which included the right to live in total poverty like the male Franciscans, and she became the first woman to write her own order’s constitution.

But Clare isn’t interesting or inspiring merely as an historical figure, Sr. Delio writes. Her thoughts, writings and example remain relevant today.

“Clare’s emphasis on the person of Jesus Christ is an emphasis on the human person as well, what we are and what we are called to be,” she writes. “Christ crucified is the mirror in which we are to see our reflection, our strengths and weaknesses, our failures and our capacity to love.”

Sr. Delio then leads the reader into this mirror through the sparse writings of St. Clare and through her life and example.

For example, like St. Francis, Clare saw a necessity in poverty. It was the path by which one could find a “blessed life.”

“For Clare, poverty is the foundation of life in God because poverty begins with God,” Sr. Delio writes. “To identify poverty in relationship to God is to quickly dispel the notion of poverty as merely material want or need … Poverty touches upon the very basis of existence itself, the gift of God given to us in the person of Jesus Christ.”

At the end of each of this book’s chapters are discussion questions for the reader or readers who might be working through the book as a group. 

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Media critic Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.