Saint Clare

Clare of Assisi, St

Clare of Assisi, St (1194–1253), Italian saint and abbess. With St Francis she founded the order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano (‘Poor Clares’), of which she was abbess. In 1958 she was declared the patron saint of television, on the grounds that she miraculously experienced the Christmas midnight mass in the Church of St Francis in Assisi when on her deathbed.

She is often shown with a pyx or monstrance, in reference to the story that when Assisi was in danger from the army of the Emperor Frederick II, which included Saracen troops, Clare (who was ill) was carried to the wall of the city holding a pyx with the Sacrament, and the attacking forces fled. Her feast day is 11 (formerly 12) August.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Clare of Assisi, St." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Clare of Assisi, St." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ClareofAssisiSt.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Clare of Assisi, St." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ClareofAssisiSt.html

Learn more about citation styles

Saint Clare

Saint Clare 1193?–1253, Italian nun of Assisi, devoted from her youth to St. Francis , to whom she took a vow of poverty. She led a life of great austerity. She organized her companions into the Franciscan nuns, or Poor Clares, and struggled a long time for the preservation of the primitive poverty of her order. Feast: Aug. 11.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Saint Clare." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Saint Clare." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ClareSt.html

"Saint Clare." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ClareSt.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Sagemark Companies (New York) reported that Premier Oncology of New Jersey,...
Newspaper article from: Diagnostics &amp; Imaging Week; 10/25/2007
Audacious Nuns: Institutionalizing the Franciscan Order of Saint Clare.
Magazine article from: Church History; 3/1/2000
Football: Clare at the double as Saints are dumped out in Semis by Nomads;...
Newspaper article from: Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England); 2/16/2008
Clare, Saint images
Saint Clare. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)