The dwelling place and throne of God

Indeed, is it not clear that the soul of the faithful person, the most worthy of all creatures because of the grace of God, is greater than heaven itself? For the heavens with the rest of creation cannot contain their Creator. Only the faithful soul is His dwelling place and His throne, and this is possible only through the charity which the wicked do not have. He who is the Truth has said: Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him, and we shall come to him and make our dwelling place with him (John 14:21).  ~St Clare of Assisi

O Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory abides.  ~Psalm 26:8

Feast of St. Clare of Assisi (and my own feast day!)

Draw me after you, let us make haste.  The king has brought me into his chambers.  We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.  ~Sg 1:4

In reality, Clare's whole life was a Eucharist because ... from her cloister she raised up a continual thanksgiving to God in her prayer, praise, supplication, intercession, weeping, offering and sacrifice. She accepted everything and offered it to the Other in union with the infinite "thanks" of the only-begotten Son, the Child, the Crucified, the risen One, who lives at the right hand of the Father.  ~Bl. John Paul II, Address of 8/11/93

Oh, beautiful, radiant St. Clare!  How lovely the light which shines forth from you -- it is Jesus!  I join my little Eucharistic thanksgiving to your great and holy one, confident that you will help me become, like you, all His and His alone.  Amen.

Today's Feast: St. Clare of Assisi

Today is my feast day, the feast of my beloved St. Clare, after whom my dear parents named me "Alice Claire." In this particular icon of her, she is holding a scroll that reads "Place your mind before the mirror of eternity." That comes from her third letter to her niece St. Agnes of Prague:

"Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance
and transform your entire being into the image
of the Godhead Itself through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel
as they taste the hidden sweetness
that God Himself has reserved from the beginning
for those who love Him."

St. Clare is known for her terribly austere poverty. Her exterior poverty was an expression and a result of her deep interior poverty, the total abandonment of herself to God alone. The women who followed her into the cloister were originally known as the Poor Ladies of Assisi; today they're called the Poor Clares. Poverty was not a negation for St. Clare. As with all true Christian asceticism, her poverty was embraced for love, with love and by love. As Pope John Paul II wrote in his Letter for the Eighth Centenary of the Birth of St. Clare of Assisi, "For Clare, poverty -- which she loved so much and mentioned so often in her writings -- is the wealth of the soul which, stripped of its own goods, is open to the 'Spirit of the Lord and his holy manner of working' (cf. RCl X, 10), like an empty shell in which God can pour out an abundance of his gifts."

Having nothing, St. Clare possessed all things; poor as she was, she made many rich (2 Cor 6:10). She had found the pearl of great price, the King of Glory, and she would henceforth count all else as worthless for the sake of her Beloved Jesus (Phil 3:8). She would live her life for Him alone, her love burning with an ever brighter flame as she fed on His hidden sweetness and tasted the goodness of the Lord.

God of mercy, you inspired Saint Clare with the love of poverty. By the help of her prayers may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit and come to the joyful vision of your glory in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ~Opening Prayer, Feast of St. Clare

Prayer of St. Clare

By Your most bitter death give me a lively faith, firm hope and a perfect charity, that with my whole heart I may love You with all my soul and strength. Make me persevere in Your service, firm and steadfast in good works, so that I may be always able to please You, my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.