St clair biography

St. Clare of Assisi was born into the nobility of Assisi on July 16, 1194. She was known by members of her household to be a sensitive child, prayerful and kind. After hearing St. Francis preach, she confided in him her desire to live for God. On the evening of Palm Sunday, in the year 1212, Clare secretly left her stately home with her cousin Pacifica, and never returned. In the Church of ‘Our Lady of the Angels’, Francis, clothed Clare in sackcloth and cut off her hair, signaling her renunciation of the world. She took the veil of religious life from Francis and from that moment vowed to live her life entirely in the service of Jesus, her heavenly spouse.

St. Clare followed her path unwaveringly, adopting the rule of St. Benedict tempered with Francis’s preaching of poverty. She soon gathered a large female following at San Damiano and Francis urged her to set up a convent there. She did so and became abbess of the new community known as the Poor Clares. Clare’s mother and sisters later joined the order, and there are still thousands of members today.

Very little is known about St. Clare’s life in the cloister. We know she became a living example of the poverty, humility, and mortification expounded by St. Francis. Like St. Francis, Clare was known for her many miracles. Among her most famous feats is using a consecrated Host to ward off invaders. She displayed the Sacrament in a monstrance at the convent gates, and prayed before it; the attackers left. Toward the end of her life on Christmas Eve 1252, Clare was upset that her illness was keeping her from Mass in the new Basilica of St. Francis. Suddenly, she was blessed with a vision of the Mass on her wall, both hearing and seeing it miraculously from several miles away. Because of this vision, she has been pronounced the patron saint of television and the patron of sore eyes.

St. Clare died in Assisi on August 11, 1253. She was canonized quickly – on September 26, 1255, by Pope Alexander IV.

Foundress of the Franciscan Second Order and saint

This article is about an Italian saint. For other saints with similar names, see Saint Clare (disambiguation). For other people named Clare, see Clare (disambiguation).

Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled Clara, Clair or Claire; Italian: Chiara d'Assisi), is an Italiansaint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.

Inspired by the teachings of St. Francis, she founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monasticreligious order for women in the Franciscan tradition. The Order of Poor Ladies was different from any other order or convent because it followed a rule of strict poverty. Clare wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares. Her feast day is on 11 August.

Early life

Clare was born in Assisi to the Offreduccio household during the High Middle Ages, the eldest daugh

Caribbean-French mobster and community activist

Stephanie St. Clair (December 24, 1897 in Martinique, French Caribbean – December 1969) was a racketeer who ran numerous enterprises in Harlem, New York in the early 20th century. St. Clair resisted the Mafia's interests for several years after Prohibition ended; she became a local legend for her public denunciations of corrupt police and for resisting Mafia control. She ran a successful numbers game in Harlem and was an activist for the black community. Her nicknames included: Queenie, Madame Queen, Madame St. Clair and Queen of the Policy Rackets.

Early life

Stephanie St. Clair was born of African descent in the West Indies to a single mother, Félicienne, who worked hard to send her daughter to school. According to St. Clair's 1924 Declaration of Intention, she gave Fort-de-France, French West Indies (present-day Martinique, West Indies) as her place of birth.

When St. Clair turned 12, her mother became very ill and St. Clair had to leave school. She managed to save some money and, after the death of her mother, left Martinique for Montreal, likely coming as part of the 1910-1911 Caribbean Domestic Scheme, which brought domestic workers to Quebec.

She immigrated to the United States from Montreal, arriving in New York in 1912. She used the voyage and subsequent quarantine to learn English. In Harlem she fell in love with a small-time crook, Duke, who soon tried to prostitute her but was shot in a fight between gangs. After four months, she decided to start her own business, selling controlled drugs with the help of her new boyfriend, Ed.

After a few months, she had made $30,000 and told Ed she wanted to leave him and start her own business. Ed tried to strangle her and she pushed him away with such force that he cracked his skull against a table and di

(1194-1253)

Who Was Saint Clare of Assisi?

Saint Clare of Assisi was born into a wealthy Italian family but soon shunned her luxurious upbringing to embrace the life of piety and poverty. Inspired by the words of Francis of Assisi, Clare fled her home and joined Francis, establishing her own religious order. The group became known for their austere and devout lifestyle and for the power of their prayer, which is credited with saving Assisi from invaders twice. After Francis' death, Clare continued his work and broadened her own influence. Clare died in 1253 and was canonized two years later by Pope Alexander IV.

Early Years

Clare was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1193 to wealthy parents, and was taught to read and write as well as spin yarn and do needlework. She had little interest in her luxurious surroundings (she lived in a palace), and influenced by her mother's religious devotion, Clare dedicated her life to God at an early age. She also showed early on that her calling would involve helping the poor, as she set aside food from her family table to give to the needy on the streets.

Francis of Assisi's Influential Visit

When Clare was 18, Francis of Assisi came to preach in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi. Inspired by his words, Clare asked Francis to help her in dedicating her life to God, and he vowed to do so. The following year (1211), Clare's parents chose a wealthy young man for Clare to marry, but she pointedly refused, fleeing soon after for the Porziuncola Chapel, where Francis received her. She took vows dedicating her life to God, and that moment, occurring on March 20, 1212, marked the beginning of the Second Order of Saint Francis.

A Life of God

Clare's sister Agnes soon joined her, and they moved to the Church of San Damiano, recently rebuilt by Francis. It wasn't long before other women joined them, and San Damiano's residents, known for their ascetic lifestyle, became known as the "Poor Ladies." (Kn