BACK TO LIST

On Palm Sunday 1212, St. Clare set out for the Portiuncula—a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels, situated on the plain beneath the city of Assisi — to give herself to Jesus and follow in the footsteps of St. Francis. This was the night it all began; this was the night when a courageous young noblewoman gave her “Yes” to God.

After receiving a tonsure from the hands of St. Francis and thus breaking all ties with the world, Clare went for a time to the Monastery of San Paolo, then to Sant’Angelo in Panzo. Finally, she made her way back to Assisi to San Damiano, where Francis had prepared a place for Clare and her followers to live an enclosed life. There she stayed for the remainder of her days.

During these 41 years, it is rumored that from a vantage point at San Damiano, she could see the plain upon which sat the hallowed Portiuncula. Even were she not able to see it physically, we know this place was often in her mind’s eye and ever present in her heart.

For Clare, Palm Sunday 1212 was an anchor grace, a place of encounter with the love of God, and a life-defining experience. No doubt she remembered all the details of this night: the weather, the sight of the brothers waiting for her with torches, the smell of the woods, the feel of her hair being shorn, and the weight of the tunic she would now wear.

As Clare lived out her life and mission as a bride of Christ, foundress, and abbess, she remained anchored in the graces of Palm Sunday 1212. Over 800 years later, the memory and fruit of these graces anchor us, her spiritual daughters, as well.

What you hold, may you always hold. What you do, may you always do and never abandon. But with swift pace, light step, unswerving feet, so that even your steps stir up no dust, may you go forward securely, joyfully and swiftly, on the path of prudent happiness.

BACK TO LIST