Today, in the life of the Church, we celebrate the solemnity of one of the most remarkable
women in Christendom, indeed, not merely just one of the most remarkable women in Christendom,
but a woman remarkable in the whole history of humanity.
For St. Clair of Assisi would show us what a true love of God is and what true poverty is.
For St. Clair was poor because she saw everything she had as a gift,
whether it had been the beauty of her body, whether it had been the beauty of her intellect,
or all those gifts that God had given her by nature, she saw them as gift, gift to be returned
to the King. And she also saw all the things that God had created as gifts to mankind that had to be
returned to the King by way of proper use. And so she was truly poor because she knew all that she
had received of herself and all that she could see was given to her by another. And so she would see
the Lord as a mirror, and she would tell her sisters to constantly gaze into the mirror. In the
mirror, she would point out, we see the love of Christ the King as the infant babe in Bethlehem,
embracing poverty for the sake of humanity. As the mirror of his life at Nazareth, we would see
his diligent labor under the guidance of St. Joseph and his attending to the classes given to
him by his most holy mother in the Holy Spirit. And so she would tell her sisters to constantly gaze
into the mirror, and she would say this of a woman's heart, and she took a hand. And she would
talk about Cain's luminous presence that was second to nothing. This picture was the following.
And she would speak through his body as hewan Werk and his Petrus, when he said,
II warming, right, I then, and he addressed and delivered his heart still, buried in the
인지ن with a great ancient spirit Randy." So she would say, one of her sisters,
the wife that I had told the bull and this woman's туда and this woman who'd been
almost 42sprout an hour and a half. And we would see her mother in heaven being her mother when
she was falls asleep. She would speak through her chicks, and only then would I understand.
But while she was meditating and reading, and the end of a book of his thoughts about Audrey opportunities question
for the sake of humanity, so poor that he would pour forth all his blood
in order to reclaim human beings as members of his kingdom.
And so she truly understood what true poverty is
because in Christ she saw the beauty of divine love.
And so she did not gaze upon the mirror into the mirror
as ordinary women of her beauty would do in a form of vanity,
in a form of narcissism, but her mirror would not be none other than the life of Christ.
And when she was inspired through the preaching of St. Francis
to leave the noble family home, for she was from a noble family,
she would give herself entirely to the Lord.
She would meet resistance from her family who could not possibly believe
that someone so beautiful and had a life laid out for her
in which she too would marry a noble woman.
She would become a noble man and become a leader in the community,
how she could give it all up and embrace the poverty that she did.
But when her uncle would come to try to remove her from her new life,
she would be too heavy for him to lift and for all the men that he brought with him.
For she came to understand what was said in today's gospel,
that the Lord will truly defend those who do his will.
And so they were unable to remove her.
From that life she had now chosen.
And indeed, when her sisters would be assailed by the Mohammedan forces
who were about to enter into the convent
and perpetrate unspeakable crimes upon these consecrated virgins,
she would again pray to the Lord, take the blessed sacrament,
and a terror because of the brightness of the light
that would shone forth from the monstrance would drive them
in an absolute terror from the convent.
And so they were spared by the divine king.
For St. Clair understood that Christ truly is our defender
because he truly is our king.
And so she would give everything to him
because she is the most extraordinary disciple of St. Francis of Assisi.
And St. Francis described himself as the herald of a great king.
And so St. Clair understood this kingship so well,
most especially in that aspect.
Of Christ the king by which he protects us,
both body and soul when necessary.
There are times when Christ allows us to die a modest death
in order to witness to the power of his kingship
that even in the face of trials and tribulations,
we are not overcome, but his grace sustains us.
And this is truly what drove the life of this holy virgin.
And if St. Ambrose says that any Christian
who lives the virtue of chastity,
according to Christ,
according to their state of life,
is a witness to the world of the supernatural world,
for everyone knows that it is not possible
for any Christian to attain that virtue of purity
which is required of Christians
unless there is an outside help.
If this is true in general, as St. Ambrose says,
then in the life of St. Clair, it burns most brightly.
Indeed, her name itself means pure
because she was pure both in mind, both in heart.
She was pure in heart.
She was pure in soul, and she was pure in body.
She truly gave everything she had received to the Lord,
and hence she was truly poor
because by the end of her life, she kept nothing to herself.
She had given everything back to God,
and even in the way she used the things that God created,
she shows herself poor,
for she always and everywhere used them
in a manner by which she sought to draw souls
to the love of the great King.
And so, let us rejoice.
Let us rejoice this day that we celebrate the solemnity
of this most extraordinary virgin
who indeed ranks among the most extraordinary women
that have ever graced this planet,
and she becomes a beacon, a beacon for all generations.
In her time, she would lead many noble women,
many poor women, women from all walks of life
into the life of love of Christ and consecrated virginity,
and she would be an example for women
until the end of her life.
Let us rejoice this day that we celebrate the solemnity of this most extraordinary virgin,
the end of time, both women in the consecrated life
and in the domestic life of matrimony.
St. Clare shines bright,
for she took tender care of her sisters, indeed,
often rising late at night in order to recover
those sisters who had kicked off the blankets
during the cold, cold of the winter.
She showed tender love in little things,
and she showed tender love in big things,
so she did everything, as scripturally,
as the scripture says, in the end of her life,
she did everything well,
and she has received her eternal reward,
and her example will be an example for all women
and for all members of the mystical body
until the end of time,
and so let us strive by prayer
to acquire that virtue of poverty
that St. Clare had acquired
because we understand it in the way she understood it.
Everything we have is gift,
and that gift must be sanctified,
and that gift can only be sanctified
if we present ourselves to the good king
and ask of him the graces
that are necessary for us to sanctify
all that he has given us,
whether it be of ourselves or of the created world,
that all things must come under the kingship
and the reign of Jesus Christ,
that is a most universally denied doctrine
in Holy Mother Church,
and often St. Clare is not associated with it,
but it is not to understand,
but it is to understand the life of this great woman
or the life of St. Francis of Assisi
if we do not understand
that when St. Francis defined himself
as the herald of the great king,
he defined all Christians,
for that is what we are,
and in the life of St. Clare,
we see her heralding that kingship of Christ
in a most extraordinary way,
and so if we seek to imitate her,
then we too will reign with that good king
for all eternity in heaven.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.