Clare

In the Christian tradition

Saint Clare of Assisi is the thirteenth-century follower of Francis of Assisi who founded the contemplative women's order now called the Poor Clares. She is the patron of television (declared by Pope Pius XII in 1958, on the basis of a tradition that she saw a Christmas Mass projected on the wall of her cell when she was too ill to attend). The Catholic and Anglican calendars commemorate her on August 11.

Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) left her noble family at age eighteen to follow Francis of Assisi, becoming the founder of the contemplative order of Poor Ladies (now the Poor Clares). Her own Rule, the first religious rule written by a woman for women, governed her community until her death and continues to shape the Poor Clares to this day. Her relationship with Francis is one of the major spiritual friendships in Catholic tradition. The name has been in continuous Christian use across the centuries; the Italian form Chiara, the French Claire, and the Latin form Clara are all in modern use.