Clare of Montefalco

Clare of Montefalco, known in Italian as Chiara da Montefalco and also called Clare of the Cross, was born in 1268 in Montefalco, a small hill town in Umbria in central Italy. Her parents were Damiano and Iacopa. The family was devout, and Clare’s older sister Giovanna had already taken up a life of seclusion. At about the age of six Clare was allowed to join Giovanna and a few other women who lived as recluses in a hermitage attached to the church of Santa Croce just outside Montefalco. The little community followed a penitential way of life inspired by Franciscan ideals, practicing fasting, manual work, and continual prayer while remaining under the spiritual care of the local clergy.

As the number of sisters grew, the hermitage became inadequate. In 1290 the community obtained permission to move into a new convent built within the walls of Montefalco and to adopt the Rule of Saint Augustine. From that time they were regarded as Augustinian nuns. Giovanna, the foundress and first superior, died in 1291. Despite her youth, Clare was elected abbess in her sister’s place and remained in office until her own death. Under her government the monastery became known for regular observance, poverty, and care for the poor. Clare herself lived with marked austerity, often taking little food and spending long hours in prayer before the crucifix.

Her inner life was shaped by a deep identification with the Passion of Christ. She spoke of having asked Christ to imprint the instruments of his suffering upon her heart, and later claimed that this request had been granted. She also endured periods of spiritual desolation as well as consoling visions. In an age when the heresy of the Free Spirit and related unorthodox movements were present in Umbria, Clare was noted for firm adherence to Catholic doctrine; she is said to have debated with and converted some who held erroneous views, including a local figure associated with that current. Clergy and laypeople sought her counsel, and she acquired a reputation for wisdom unusual for a cloistered woman of the late thirteenth century.

Clare died in her convent at Montefalco on 18 August 1308. Because of the fame of her holiness and reports concerning a mystical impression of the Passion, her heart was examined after death. Contemporary witnesses recorded that they found, formed in the cardiac tissue, a representation of a crucifix and other symbols of the Passion. Her body was found incorrupt and has been preserved ever since in the church of the monastery, now known as the Church of Santa Chiara in Montefalco. A popular cult arose at once. After lengthy processes the Holy See confirmed her cult; she was beatified by Pope Clement XII in 1737 and solemnly canonized by Pope Leo XIII on 8 December 1881. The Catholic Church keeps her feast on 17 August. She is venerated especially in Umbria and among Augustinians as a model of contemplative life and devotion to the Cross.