CNA Staff, Aug 11, 2025 / 04:00 am

On Aug. 11 the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, a woman born into a noble family who was moved by St. Francis’ preaching and decided to embrace a life of poverty, founding a cloistered contemplative order of religious sisters called the Poor Clares.

The order spread rapidly throughout Italy with young noblewomen selling all their possessions to take on the habit of a Poor Clare. In 1218, the order began to spread outside the Italian border. Agnes of Assisi, Clare’s sister who also became a Poor Clare soon after she did, introduced their way of life to Spain. Soon monasteries in Belgium, France, and other European countries began to open.

Branches within the order include the Colettine Poor Clares, Capuchin Poor Clares, and t

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