Today is the Feast day of St Clare of Assisi. An area of London, called the Minories, is still to this day named after the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate which was founded in 1294. The Abbey was part of the Order of St Clare or the Poor Clares as they were known . A minoress was a nun from the Order of Friars Minor (aka Franciscans) .who were also known as the Minoresses of St Clare.
Clare Sciffi was born in Assisi to a rich family. On Palm Sunday, 20 March 1212 Clare left her house, after refusing offers of advantageous marriage. She had been inspired by hearing St Francis the founder of the Franciscan Monks who was also from Assisi. St Francis facilitated her transfer to Benedictine Nunneries. Her sisters followed her, one renamed Agnes became an Abbess and eventually a saint in her own right. Her family tried repeatedely to take her back into secular life, but eventually gave in, apparently when they saw that she had cut her flowing locks off and donned a plain robe.
A small nunnery was set up for them next to the church of San Damiano, additional women joined, and they became known as the “Poor Ladies of San Damiano”. They undertook to live in poverty, and seclusion.
The Franciscan friars were an itinerant order where the Friars preached to the people and were supported by begging. But this was not possible for women at that time so they lived a simple life of labour and prayer.:
‘The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat, and observed almost complete silence.’ Wikipedia
Here are a couple of sites which take the story further.
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