Claire de Montefalco

1268-1308 13th century Feast day: August 17

Not praying from a distance about what one has been through.

Who was Claire de Montefalco?

She entered as a child the group of recluses her sister had gathered at Montefalco, in Umbria, and became prioress when the community took up the Rule of Saint Augustine. Hard on herself, patient with others, she received visitors who came from far away to put matters of conscience to her, and refused the powerful the favours they expected. She spoke of the Passion as something she carried, not something she meditated on.

In their own words

If you are looking for the cross of Christ, take my heart: that is where you will find the suffering Lord.

Words reported by her sisters and gathered in her canonization inquiry, Spoleto, 1318-1319, translated from the Latin by the Manna team