Our Holy Mother Clare, Pray for us!

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Clare of Assisi (a Solemnity for Poor Clares).  This year the festivities will be heightened as we are celebrating her newly installed stained glass window in the Chapel of Our Lady of Solitude.  Above you can see a photo of a portion of the window.  So full of light.  So golden.  So CLARE!!  

Yes, the first 6 stained glass windows were installed on August 7th.  And, let me tell you, THEY ARE AWESOME.  Each one competes with the next to be our favorites!  Sr. Esther Marie, after much debate, finally chose St. Clare as her favorite.  It was a good choice!

I think Our Lady of Guadalupe is my favorite (to the right is the middle section prior to installation).  But then again, St. Francis is so beautiful.  Then there is St. Faustina – so noble.  And St. Anthony – so devotional and loving.  Oh yes, and we can’t forget the awesome round window in the cloistered Mass Chapel of our Poor Clare genealogy – tracing our roots from St. Clare to Mother Marie de Ste Claire, to Mother Mary of the Cross, to Mother Agnes, to our own beloved Mother Angelica.  Below is a photo of Sr. Esther Marie giving thanks to God for the gift of this stunning window!
Please be sure to check out the video log of the windows installation http://medievaldreams2reality.blogspot.com/2010/08/stained-glass-installation.html

I can’t finish this blog without reflecting for a moment more about St. Clare.   
“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation.”
So many of St. Clare’s quotes lead the soul to the contemplation of God, to prayer of the heart, to peace and to trust!  It was said of St. Clare that:Her life was like an arrow which took flight from the bow of her single-minded, burning desire and sped upward into the very being of the Godhead.”  Once she fell in love with the Lord, there was no stopping her.  She journeyed – with a daring heart – ever closer to the FIRE of HIS LOVE – her eyes fixed on her Goal…yet, as a true follower of St. Francis, she gratefully received the gift of the present moment. She found her Lord along the road.  She rejoiced in Him.  She led others to Him.  She reflected His Light.   

The Poor Clares in the Netherlands wrote the following about our Foundress and Mother: Sheer transparency: that was Clare. The light of the Divine gleaming through this woman who had emptied herself through the total gift of her life blinded all who drew near her. Pauper or Pope, it didn’t matter. Hidden within the walls of her monastery, the joy that consumed her penetrated every corner of the Church. The joy of living continually in Christ’s presence. For which reason she is most often portrayed holding the Blessed Sacrament.” 
May Our Holy Mother Clare obtain for you all the graces you most desire and need.