On the feast of St. Clare, we’d like to stop for a moment from the usual noise of our daily lives and reflect on the simple life of Clare together with her sisters in the monastery. Their union with the Lord, within the Church, embracing all classes of society especially the poor and the suffering, is for us today an encouragement to respond to our Christian vocation.

In today’s global situation, it is becoming more than necessary to discover sanctity as a path to a real serene surrounding. Notwithstanding the fact that the world has gone too much towards matters that hammer the people’s brains on material aspects of life, we all know that God works in the silence of human hearts, just as He did with St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi. 800 years of Franciscanism in the heart of the Church are to testify.

The humble and devout life of St. Clare enables us to understand that we can also hear and experience the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts. Are we aware of this ? St. Augustine tells us with determination, ” if others received the blessings and the graces of the Lord through a deep faith, why can’t we do the same? ”

The Blessed John Paul II once said, “Clare and her sisters had hearts as large as the world: as contemplatives, they interceded for the whole of humanity. Those souls, so sensitive to the daily problems of each person, were able to take all difficulties upon themselves; there was no concern, suffering, anguish or discouragement of others which did not find an echo in the hearts of these prayerful women.”

May St. Clare help us to perceive the presence of the Love of God in our daily lives. May we continue discovering, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and also through Franciscan simplicity, the glory of creation, the help of the Church’s teachings for society, the strength of friendship and the miracle of Peace, the freedom of our spirit through Jesus Christ’s gospel, the strength we can receive from the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist; may we encounter a new life through the sacrament of reconciliation (confessions), where we experience the forgiveness of the Lord, rich in mercy and infinite in Love. May we endure in our call to salvation!

Francis and Clare, two famous saints, who lived the virtue of humility and a life of prayer have inherited their freedom of spirit. They can surely help us understand, through their intercession, the true meaning of being saved by Jesus Christ and gifted of eternal friendship.

Our deepest greetings to our dear sisters, the Poor Clares, on the 800th anniversary of St. Clare’s consecration to the Lord. Buona Festa!!

sandro overend ofm
Minister Provincial