St. Clare of Assisi is a beloved Italian saint who was born in 1193 to an aristocratic family. She later renounced her wealthy status to follow St. Francis of Assisi’s call to embrace a lifestyle of humility and poverty. She spent several months at different monastic communities before joining other sisters in a small convent at the Church of San Damiano, given to them by Francis’s Order of Friars Minor.
St. Clare was the superior of the convent of San Damiano while still practicing the virtues of humility, charity, piety, and penitence. She cared for the sick sisters and took up basic chores such as cooking and cleaning. Her devotion to the Eucharist was so great that she performed two miracles. On two different occasions, Saracen mercenaries were about to attack the convent and impose a siege on Assisi. St. Clare simply showed the invaders the Blessed Sacrament, and they ceased in their efforts. These miracles led to her canonization in 1255.
Later in her life, St. Clare became too sick to attend Mass, and she was incredibly disappointed. It is believed that one day, she was lying in her bed when a large image appeared across her wall, as if it were a television screen. The image showed her the Mass, so St. Clare was able to watch Mass from her own bed and make an Act of Spiritual Communion. When the television was invented in the 1950s, Pope Pius XII named St. Clare the patron saint of televisions and screens, since she watched television before anyone had likely thought of the concept!
We honor St. Clare because she devoted her life to the wholehearted pursuit of Christ. We may not be called to enter a monastery or convent, but we still serve others as St. Clare did. We can imitate her virtues by visiting the lonely, caring for the sick, or doing our menial tasks with love and without complaint.
