The Untold Stories Of Women And The Churchናሙና

Clare of Assisi

A little over 800 years ago, a girl named Clare was born in the Italian town of Assisi. She was the oldest daughter of a wealthy and influential count, which afforded her about as much privilege as you would expect in her early years. Her mother was a faithful Christian who, much like Egeria, made pilgrimages to places like Rome and Israel. By all accounts, Clare gravitated toward the faith of her mother from an early age, and even as a child, liked to spend much of her time in prayer.

It can be assumed that Clare’s father had plans for her life, as influential parents frequently do. Family tradition would have dictated that she marry, but in March 1212, Clare attended a service during Lent and heard a preacher named Francis speak (now known as St. Francis of Assisi). She was so moved by his words that after the service, she approached him and asked him to help her live a life devoted to the Gospel of Christ.

There are countless ways we can live lives devoted to Christ in modern times, but for Clare, those words pretty much meant just one thing: She wanted to become a nun. 

The wealth she had grown up with? It meant nothing to her, not compared with Christ. And marriage? It was off the table. Clare and Francis decided on a plan, and on the evening of that year’s Palm Sunday, she left her father’s house with her aunt and met Francis at a chapel. Once there, her hair was cut (as was traditional for nuns at the time), and her clothes of privilege were exchanged for a plain dress. Once she was ready, Francis placed Clare with a group of nuns at a convent in the town of San Paulo.

But Clare’s father? He wasn’t happy with the decision Clare had made. So he traveled to San Paulo, determined to convince her to come home, but Clare refused to leave. No words or show of force could persuade her otherwise. Historians say she clung to the altar of her church and said she would have no other husband than Jesus Christ.

Clare didn’t waver in her determination to follow the path God has set before her. She embraced a life of joyful poverty in imitation of Christ. She led by example for other women who wished to make a similar commitment to Christ. When the Pope offered Clare an exemption from her vow of poverty, she refused. Later on in life, she took on the position of abbess at her convent, affording her the authority to protect the women under her care from the rules others wished to impose on them; and she encouraged and aided Francis in his work, even caring for him during his last days.

What can Clare’s life teach us? Following Jesus is better than any earthly comfort we could have. 

Have you ever had a sense of God calling you to use your possessions for His glory, or to give up certain things so you can make Him your focus? If so, don’t squash those feelings down or ignore them. If He calls you to give your possessions to a family in need or to stop a certain hobby because it’s distracting you from your relationship with Him, follow His lead. As Clare found, your life will be richer as a result.

Pray: God, help me exchange earthly comfort for a Kingdom mindset. Reveal to me any areas of my life in which I can be more generous or serve others more. In Jesus’ name, amen.