Saint Clare of Assisi, Virgin and Foundress of the Poor Clares

Saint Clare of Assisi (1194–1253) was the spiritual daughter of Saint Francis of Assisi and foundress of the Poor Clares (Order of Poor Ladies). Born to a noble family in Assisi, Clare fled her father's castle on Palm Sunday in 1212 to dedicate her virginity to Christ at the Portiuncula. Establishing her monastery at San Damiano, Clare governed her sisters in radical evangelical poverty, contemplation, and Eucharistic adoration for forty years. When Saracen mercenaries attacked Assisi and approached her monastery, Clare confronted them holding a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament; the invaders fled in sudden terror. Clare persevered for years to secure papal approval for the "Privilege of Poverty"—the right of her order to own no corporate property—which Pope Innocent IV confirmed shortly before her holy death.