St. Clare is the little plant of St. Francis, as she called herself. A blog to my call to become a Poor Clare Colettine. If St. Clare was a "little plant", I am a scraggly weed.
Oh! Sacred Feet, all gashed and torn, Bruised by the hammer's cruel blows, Bathed in the life-blood dripping down From anguished Heart in bitter throes; I press You to my lips in tears, With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh. Dear precious Wounds, God's bleeding prayers, Ah! plead for me when death draws nigh.
Oh, Mangled Hands, transfixed and wan, in suppliance raised to Heaven above, Pierced by the nails that torture wrung, From breaking Heart of burning love; I press You to my lips in tears, With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh. Dear precious Wounds, God's bleeding prayers, Ah! plead for me when death draws nigh.
Oh! Sacred Refuge, tender Side, Rent by the lance with cruel thrust, There, where His Heart is, let me hide, There, where His love is, let me trust. I press Thee to my lips in tears, With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh. Most Holy Wound, allay my fears, Recieve my soul when death draws nigh.1
1"Prayer to the Five Wounds," The Little Treasury of Leaflets, vol.IV (Dublin: Gill, 1914) 893-894.
"On March 18th of this 2012, the Poor Clare Order celebrated the 8th
Centenary of the investiture of St. Clare . At our monastery, we were
able to celebrate in the best possible way: by having an investiture
ceremony ourselves! Postulant Joscelyn Voight followed in the footsteps
of our Mother St. Clare and became Sister Mary Angelique of the Infant
Jesus. This video shows the simple, yet dramatic and symbolic
transformation of a Poor Clare postulant into a white veiled novice. For
more information, please visit our website at www.poor-clares.org - Poor Clare Colettines of Barhamsville, VA."
Agneswas the daughter of Premislaus, King of Bohemia,was born in Prague about the year 1205. She declined an imperial marriage and in 1236 entered the monastery of the Poor Clares that she had founded and which she directed for many years. She enjoyed a close friendship with St. Clare who wrote several letters to her dealing with Franciscan spirituality. Agnes died between the years 1280-1283. - (from Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours)
On the eve of the feast of the holy virgin and martyr Agnes, in the
year 1205, a daughter was born to the king of Bohemia, Primislaus
Ottokar I. St Agnes of Prague, she also received the name Agnes in
baptism. Her mother, who was an aunt of St Elizabeth of Hungary,
rejoiced when she noticed an admirable seriousness in her infant. At
times she saw how St Agnes of Prague folded her little hands in the form
of a cross, and then, as if absorbed in deep devotion, would lie quite
still.
According to the custom of the time, the king's daughter
was betrothed at the age of three years to the son of the duke of
Silesia, and hence was sent to the Silesain convent at Trebnitz, where
St Hedwig was superior at that time, to be educated there. Her betrothed
died after three years, and St Agnes of Prague was then taken to the
convent at Doxan in Bohemia, where the seeds of sanctity which had been
sown by St Hedwig budded forth in marvelous bloom. The child appeared to
be destined for the heavenly Spouse rather than for an earthly one; but
earthly monarchs renewed their suit for her hand.
Emperor
Frederick II desired to secure St Agnes of Prague as the bride of his
son and successor to the throne, Henry, and Agnes, who was now a mature
young woman, was sent to the court of the German emperor. But when the
union with Henry came to naught as the result of the prayers of the
virgin, King Henry III of England sought her hand in marriage, and
finally, even Emperor Frederick II himself, whose consort had meanwhile
died. All the opposition raised by St Agnes of Prague, who desired to
belong entirely to the Divine Bridegroom, seemed in vain. Then she
begged Pope Gregory IX to intervene, and as a result she obtained her
freedom. The emperor declared himself satisfied since Agnes chose not a
human being but the God of heaven in preference to him.
Now, however, Agnes strove to embrace the religious state in order to
achieve her union with the Divine Bridegroom. The fame of Poor Clare
convents had reached Bohemia, and Agnes resolved, with the assistance of
her brother, who had meanwhile ascended the royal throne, to establish a
convent of Poor Clares in the capital city of Prague. Pope Gregory
cheerfully gave his consent, and, at his command, St. Clare sent five
sisters from the convent of St. Damian in Assisi, to Prague. Agnes and
seven other young women of the highest ranks of society entered the new
convent together with these sisters.
Within a short time Agnes
distinguished herself among them as a model of virtue; in fervor at
prayer, in obedience, in religious discipline, in self-denial, and in
humility. The command of the pope to accept the position of abbess was a
great trial for her humility; however, she obtained permission not to
carry the title, but rather to be known as the "senior sister." Holy
zeal, similar to that of her holy mother St. Clare, characterized her
vigilance regarding the observance of holy poverty; she declined the
royal gifts sent to her by her brother, and would not tolerate that any
sister possess anything of a personal nature.
God blessed her with the gift of miracles; she recalled to life the deceased daughter of her brother.
Enriched
with heavenly merits, she departed from this life in the odor of
sanctity, to enter into eternal union with her Divine Bridegroom, on
March 6, 1282, having served Him for forty years in the religious state.
Devotion to her, which has existed since time immemorial, received
apostolic sanction from Pope Pius IX, and her feast, which has long been
celebrated in Prague on March 2nd, has been extended to the entire
Franciscan Order.
*from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm.
Father
God, what a gift You gave us in the person of St. Francis of Assisi!
He renewed, in the hearts of many who lived in the past and even for
people today, the freshness, the beauty and goodness of the Gospel. He
did this not with wise and profound words, great and subtle thoughts or a
voice melodious, pleasant to the ear. He did this with a life totally
dedicated to You and to the fulfillment
of Your will. He did this by walking faithfully (nearly perfectly!) in
the footsteps of Your Son, Jesus Christ. He did this by embracing Your
love with His whole being and by sharing that same love with the world.
Give me strength, Your own goodness, that I might prove as faithful in
following Jesus, my Lord, and in pleasing You in all I do and say, think
and feel. Amen.
“The better we become, the less conscious we are of our goodness. If
anyone admits to being a saint, he is close to being a devil. Jean
Jacques Rousseau believed that of all
men, he was the most perfect, but he had so many cracks in his soul that
he abandoned his children after their birth. The more saintly we
become, the less conscious we are of being holy. A child is cute so long
as he does not know he is cute. As soon as he thinks he is, he turns
into a brat. True goodness is unconscious.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Jesus said, in regards to having the right perspective/attitude about
giving Alms . . . ‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand
is doing!’ Thus, giving should be so reasonable, so natural, done so
often that we, in a way, do it without thinking. We recognize the need,
respond to the need by trying to meet it and never stop to think, ‘Wow!
I’m pretty good!’ St. Francis, if this thought occurred to him, would
rebuke it with, ‘Everything is given to me on loan from God – who owns
all things – until I meet someone needier than myself. It is the poorer
person’s by right and to hold it back from that person is the sin of
theft!’
