This past Sunday, we honored the feast day of St. Clare of Assisi. St. Clare was an Italian Saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. As a young girl, she devoted herself to prayer. Clare was born into a wealthy family and was betrothed to be married. At 18, she snuck out of her father’s home and went to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet Francis. Her hair was completely cut off and she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and veil. When her father found out, he was furious and attempted to force her to go back home. She refused, clinging to the altar and professing she would have no other husband other than Jesus Christ.
The St. Clare - Macon Chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King (DOK) renewed their vows, pledging themselves to be an extension of Christ’s Kingdom through Prayer, Service, and Evangelism. At admission into the DOK, a new Daughter receives the cross of the Order. It is a modified Greek Fleury cross, inscribed in Latin, “Magnanimiter Crucem Sustine,” meaning “With heart, mind and spirit uphold and bear the cross.” At the base of the cross are the letters “FHS”, initials that stand for the Motto of the Order: “For His Sake.”
When I think about the life of St Clare, I am in awe. She was willing to give up everything in devotion to following Jesus. Clare answered obediently the call of living a life of poverty and piety. She challenges us to focus on what is truly Godly:
“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God's compassionate love for others.”
― St. Clare of Assisi
Brittney Kish Lightsey, Junior Warden