Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
Filed under the name Chiara · May 16, 2026
Saint Clare of Assisi founded the Order of Poor Clares back in the thirteenth century and gave up a life of comfort to do it, choosing poverty and devotion on purpose, which is a kind of faith I find easy to admire even from this far away and this many centuries later. I'm a Southern Baptist myself, different tradition altogether, but I've spent enough Sunday mornings in a pew to know real devotion when I read about it. She's remained one of the most revered figures in Christian history for going on eight hundred years now, which tells you something lasted true about what she built. I think about the quiet women in my own church who give more than anybody notices and never ask for credit — Clare seems cut from that same cloth, just with a much bigger legacy attached. My grandmother used to say the ones who give it away freely are usually the ones who end up richest in the ways that count. Clare proved that a long time before my grandmother said it.