 Given that we are in a Franciscan Jubilee year, it is not surprising that St. Clare of Assisi has come to my attention. I have always loved St. Francis, but on our pilgrimage St. Clare made an impression, particularly her understanding of the power and love contained within the Eucharist. At her convent in San Damiano there is a statue of her holding a monstrance, a tribute to her daring trust in God when the Saracens were attacking, intending to sack the convent in 1240. Praying for protection, she brought the Eucharist to the window, a sight which caused the Saracens to flee. However, the story told by our guide concerning this event was somewhat erroneous. She said that when St. Clare prayed, ill at the time, a huge storm suddenly ensued and the Saracens had to run for cover, and so St. Clare is known as the patron saint of weather. In reality, there was no storm, but rather it was the power of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist that brought fear into the hearts of the Saracens who subsequently fled: “According to tradition she prayed, ‘Lord, protect these sisters whom I cannot now protect.’ In that moment a mysterious light emanated from the Eucharist, dazzling the invaders and causing them to retreat.” * The details of what happened are actually unimportant, but rather it was her faith in the power of Jesus present in the Eucharist which ought to inspire our faith in receiving it every week or perhaps daily.  The Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus are present in the Sacrament of Eucharist. There is no greater gift than this. On the night before He died, Jesus gave this gift to His disciples as an everlasting gift which He then purchased for us by dying on the cross and rising again. Immediately this gift became obvious and brought forth joy, beginning with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who experienced Jesus in this way. Therefore, the Church has treasured this gift since it was given because Jesus, who left His Holy Spirit to guide us with His gifts, left His physical presence as well, made so when the priest prays the words of consecration at each and every Mass. This gift of love is so enormous that we are unable to fully comprehend it. As Pope Benedict XVI taught, “God came to earth in the person of Jesus, true God and true man, to become what He created and then to raise us up to Him.” St. John recorded that Jesus continually repeated that He and the Father are One. ** Thus, we are continuously raised up to Him, also as one, in the living, physical presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament. How could anyone not accept this gift?  For both St. Clare and St. Francis, (who inspired Clare to devote her life to Christ), the Eucharist was a source of unity. They saw in it the self-giving of the crucified Christ as the gift of One for the many; they saw not only unity for us with one another, but unity with God Himself. For Francis, the bodily-ness of the Eucharist was not just something he grasped through his prayer and faith, but he shared in it through the wounds he bore for the last few years of his life, (the stigmata). Called to embody Christ’s love in word and deed, God first sent him to lepers, though sometimes he was sent to those with power; but truly his work was rooted in sharing the love of Christ with the lowly, of whom he considered himself one. He lived as a lowly beggar by embracing poverty, and yet he was bold enough to organize his followers into a community and to face the mighty. Throughout his ministry, Francis was always invited into the wounded Christ through suffering with love so intense that eventually he was drawn as deeply as possible into it in his body through the stigmata.  As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ it is important to contemplate the power of the Eucharist, not just in Saints like Francis and Clare, but to actually consider what the Eucharist really is. The Eucharist is the presence of Christ and therefore, it is Love seen with our own eyes, tasted within our mouths, and which enters our hearts and souls, regardless of whether we ‘feel’ anything. The Eucharist is the presence of God and is a reality so deep it goes beyond the senses where our experience of it begins. It is both the ‘result’ of the greatest act of love in the history of creation and it truly is Love itself because the Eucharist is the fullness of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We are invited into that love daily and in that love is the source of the unity Jesus prayed for on the night He died. Not only did He pray for unity, He gave it to us in the form of His dying and rising, found in the Sacrament itself. We are meant to receive of that, and then to give from the wellspring of love we receive. Just as God sent St. Francis to the poor as well as the powerful, and just as God sent St. Clare as a beacon of faith and unity, so too are we sent into the world to live the faith we profess and the love we receive. *** In the Eucharist our faith, hope, and love are renewed. Jesus, I trust in you!  May we never take the power and reality of the Eucharist for granted! May we turn to the Holy Spirit frequently to enable the gifts we have been given! And may we imitate the Saints, such as Francis and Clare, in our pursuit of holiness expressed through the love we receive from the Lord in the Eucharist! Let us meet in the Eucharist! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese Notes: Some of the insights in the third paragraph come from the book Clare of Assisi: A Heart Full of Love, by Sr. Ilia Delio, O.S.F., (particularly pages 82 and 83). * Though some do claim St. Clare as the patron saint of weather, that particular patron is said to be St. Medard, a saint from northern France (d. 545 AD). St. Clare is actually the patron of TV (!) because during the time of her illness, she was bedridden and yet was able to see the Mass coming from the cloister ‘transmitted’ to the wall of her cell. https://catholicsaints.info/saint-clare-of-assisi/ The quote is from https://www.lettersfromthesaints.com/blog/st-clare-of-assisi-and-the-miracles-of-the-eucharist-the-mass-and-the-bread?srsltid=AfmBOopxJ3gk4Ks1S8j_iKafTXGN_MbGDABc8YV9ThcM_H0cPydkBykK ** This is a paraphrase of the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. In reference to John’s Gospel, the entire Last Supper Discourse is centered around unity: the unity the apostles needed to have, the unity of the Son with the Father, and the unity He prayed that we, the Church throughout time, would have. (John 13-17) *** St. Francis had such reverence for the Holy Eucharist and such great humility, that he remained a deacon and was never ordained a priest. It is said that he held the Eucharist as something so precious, that he never felt worthy of the gifts of the priest who through the grace of ordination is able to consecrate the elements that become Eucharist. However, it is also likely that he simply was not called to be a priest, but rather to be a deacon. – St. Clare was ‘sent’ insofar as the restrictions of the time allowed. She, and all women religious, had to live in a cloistered convent, but the doors were always open to the poor for food, shelter, education, and even healthcare. Images: 1. My photo; St. Clare holding the monstrance with the Holy Eucharist. This was taken at her convent in San Damiano, Italy. 2. My photo; monstrance used by St. Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotando, Italy. I took this photo twice and both times I could not eliminate the reflection on the glass case from the light in the museum. It does make for an 'interesting' photo, symbolically speaking. 3. Icon; St. Francis - Viriditas, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. This icon is a diptych panel which is part of a larger work, Viriditas - Finding God in All Things. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, it is found at fineartamerica.com/featured/viriditas-finding-god-in-all-things-william-hart-mcnichols.html 4. Painting; The Good Samaritan by Vincent van Gogh. I chose this because it depicts unity: a Samaritan ministering to a Jewish man who was beaten by robbers, the subject of a parable told by Jesus. (Luke 10:29-37) Samaritans and Jews usually had great disdain for one another. 5. My photo of a painting; The Communion of the Apostles by Luca Signorelli. This is found in St. Margaret of Cortona Church, Cortona, Italy. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time.
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