The Testament of Saint Clare of Assisi

In the name of the Lord!

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Among the other gifts we have received and continue to receive from our magnanimous Father of Mercies and for which we must express the deepest thanks to our glorious God, there is our vocation, which the more perfect and greater it is, the more are we indebted to Him. Therefore the Apostle [writes]: Recognize your vocation. The Son of God has become for us the Way that our blessed father Francis, His true lover and imitator, has shown and taught us by word and example.

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Therefore, beloved sisters, we must consider the immense gifts that God has bestowed on us, but among others, those that He has seen fit to work in us through His beloved servant, our blessed father Francis, not only after our conversion but also while we were still in the unhappy vanity of the world. In fact, almost immediately after his conversion, when the holy man did not as yet have brothers or companions, while building the church of San Damiano, where he was totally visited by divine consolation and impelled to abandon the world, completely through great joy and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, the holy man made a prophecy  about us that the Lord later fulfilled.

 

Climbing the wall of that church, he shouted in French to some poor people who were standing near by; "Come and help me in the work on the monastery of San Damiano, because there will as yet be ladies here who will glorify our Heavenly Father throughout His holy, universal Church by their celebrated and holy manner of life."

 

We can consider in this, therefore, the abundant kindness of God to us. Because of His mercy and love, He saw fit to speak these words about our vocation and election through His saint. And our most blessed father prophesied not only for us, but also for those who would come to this holy vocation to which the Lord has called us.

 

With what eagerness and fervor of mind and body, therefore, must we keep the commandments of God and of our father, so that, with the help of the Lord, we may return to Him an increase of talents! For the Lord Himself has placed us as a model, as an example, and mirror not only for others, but also for our sisters whom the Lord has called to our way of life as well, that they in turn might be a mirror and example to those living in the world. Since the Lord has called us to such great things that those who are a mirror and example to others may be reflected in us, we are greatly bound to bless and praise God and to be strengthened more and more to do good in the Lord. Therefore, if we live according to the form mentioned above, we shall leave others a noble example and gain, with very little effort, the prize of eternal happiness.

 

After the most high and heavenly Father saw fit in mercy and grace to enlighten my heart that I might do penance according to the example and teaching of our most blessed father Francis, a short while after his conversion, I, together with a few sisters whom the Lord had given me after my own conversion, willingly promised him obedience, as the Lord gave us the light of His grace through his wonderful life and teaching. When the blessed Francis saw, however, that although we were physically weak and frail, we did not shirk deprivation, poverty, hard work, trial, or the shame or contempt of the world-rather, we considered them as great delights, as he had frequently examined us according to the example of the saints and his brothers, he greatly rejoiced in the Lord. And moved by pity for us, he bound himself, both personally and through his religion, always to have the same loving care and special solicitude for us as for his own brothers.

 

And thus, by the will of God and our most blessed father Francis, we went to dwell in the Church of San Damiano, where in a little while, the Lord, through His mercy and grace, made our number increase so that what the Lord had foretold through His saint would be fulfilled. In fact, before this we had stayed in another place, but only for a little while.

 

Afterwards he wrote a form of life for us, especially that we would always persevere in holy poverty. While he was living he was not content to encourage us with many words and examples to love the holy poverty and its observance, but he gave us many writings that, after his death, we would in no way turn away from it, as the Son of God never wished to turn away from this holy poverty while He lived in the world. And, while he lived, our most blessed father Francis, having imitated His footprints, never either in example or in teaching turned away from this holy poverty that he had chosen for himself and his brothers.

 

Therefore, I, Clare, a handmaid of Christ and of the poor sisters of the Monastery of San Damiano, although unworthy, and the little plant of the holy father, reflect together with my sisters on so lofty a profession and the command of such a father. [We are aware] in others of the frailty that we feared in ourselves after the passing of our holy father Francis, who was our pillar, [our] only consolation after God, and [our] support. Time and again we willingly bound ourselves to our Lady, most holy Poverty, that after my death, the sisters, those present and those to come, would never in any way turn away from her.

 

And as I have always been most zealous and solicitous  to observe and to have the others observe the holy poverty that we have promised to the Lord and our holy father Francis, so let the others who will succeed me in office always be bound to observe it and have it observed by the other sisters. Moreover, for greater security, I took care to have our profession of the most holy poverty that we promised our father strengthened with privileges by the Lord Pope Innocent, in whose time we had our beginning, and by his other successors, that we would never in any way turn away from her.  

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For this reason, on bended knees and bowing low with both [body and soul], I commend all my sisters, both those present and those to come, to holy Mother the Roman Church, to the Supreme Pontiff, and especially, to the Lord Cardinal who has been appointed for the religion of the Friars Minor and for us. Out of love for the God Who placed poor in the crib, lived poor in this world, and remained naked on the cross, may [the Lord Cardinal] always have his little flock, which the Lord Father has begotten in His holy Church by the word and example  of our blessed father Francis by following the poverty and humility of His beloved Son and His glorious Virgin Mother, observe the holy poverty that we have promised to God and our most blessed father Francis. And may he always encourage and support them in these things.

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And the Lord gave us our most blessed father Francis as a founder, planter, and helper in the service of Christ and in those things we have promised to God and to our blessed father, who while he was living was always solicitous in word and in deed to cherish and care for us, his plant, so do I  command and leave my sisters, both those present and those to come, to the successor of our blessed father Francis and to the entire religion, that they may always help us to progress in better serving God and, above all, in better observing most holy poverty.

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If it should happen at any time that these sisters leave this place and go elsewhere, let them be bound, wherever they may be after my death, to observe that form of poverty that we have promised God and our most blessed father Francis.

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Let the sister who shall be in office, however, as well as the other sisters, be attentive and farsighted that they do not acquire or receive more land about the place than strict necessity requires for a garden for raising vegetables. But if it becomes necessary for the integrity and privacy of the monastery to have more land beyond the limits of a garden, let no more be acquired or even accepted than strict necessity demands. This land should not be cultivated or planted but remain always fallow and uncultivated.

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I admonish and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ all my sisters both present and those to come to strive always to imitate the way of holy simplicity, humility and poverty and also the integrity of our holy way of living, as we are taught from the beginning of our conversion by Christ and by our blessed father Francis. From them, not  by any merits of ours but solely out of the largesse of His mercy and grace, the Father of Mercies has spread the fragrance of a good reputation, both among those who are far away as well as those who are near.And loving one another with the love of Christ, may you demonstrate without in your deeds the love you have within so that, compelled by such an example, the sisters may always grow in the love of God and in mutual charity.

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I also beg the [sisters] who will be in an office of the sisters to strive to exceed the others more by her virtues and holy life than by her office, so that, stimulated by her example, they obey her not so much because of her office as because of her love. Let her also be farsighted and discerning toward her sisters, as a good mother is toward her daughters, and let her especially take care to provide for them according to the needs of each one out of the alms the Lord shall give. Let her also be so kind and affable that they may securely reveal their needs and confidently have recourse to her at any hour, as they see fit both for themselves as well as for their sisters.

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Let the sisters who are subject, however, keep in mind that, for the sake of God, they have given up their own wills. Therefore I want them to obey their mother of their own free will as they have promised to the Lord, so that, seeing the charity, humility, and unity they have toward one another, she might bear all burdens of her office more lightly, and what is painful and bitter might be changed into sweetness through their way of life.

 

And because straight is the way and the path, and narrow is the gate through which one passes and enters to life, there are both few who walk it and enter through it. And if there are some who walk that way for a while, there are very few who persevere in it. But how blessed are those to whom it has been given to walk that way and to persevere till the end.

 

Therefore, let us be very careful that, if we have set out on the path of the Lord, we do not at any time turn away from it through our own fault and ignorance, or that we do great wrong to so great a Lord and His Virgin Mother, and our blessed father Francis, the Church Triumphant and even the Church Militant. For it is written: "Those who turn away from your commands are cursed."

 

For this reason, I bend my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ so that, through the prayers and merits of the holy and glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, and our most blessed father Francis and all the saints, the Lord Himself, Who has has given a good beginning, may give the increase and may also give final perseverance. Amen 

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So that it may be better observed,  I leave you this writing, my very dear and beloved sisters, present and to come, as a sign of the blessing of the Lord and of our most blessed father Francis, and of my blessing, your mother and handmaid.

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Translation from: Clare of Assisi: The Lady; Early Documents,Trans; Fr Regis Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., New City Press, New York 2006

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