Poor Clares Research Paper

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The Poor Clares are a religious order of nuns who follow a strict rule and faith. They were founded by a woman named Clare, who for vowed to herself a life of poverty and instead, became a follower of St. Francis of Assisi. There are over 20,000 nuns in over 75 countries that follow this order. This movement was made to live according to the gospel of Christ openly and to live in sisterhood together. The Poor Clare’s are a significant group of women who are members of an Order of nuns in the Catholic Church, and impacted the lives of many poor and uneducated through prayer and devotion.
Poor Clare, also known as “Clarissine” or “Clarisse,” is “a nun – meaning that she lives in one monastery (usually) for her whole life” (“Poor Clare Sisters.” …show more content…

Women everywhere seemed to pop up with their monasteries. Pope Gregory IX was to “oversee” all monasteries of the Poor Clare’s and create a formal rule. Many monasteries accepted this rule in all different areas but, adopted by Clare or her monastery at San Damiano. Although, the monasteries including Monticello, Perugia, Siena, and Gattajola adopted the new rule (talked about in paragraph one) which allowed for the papacy to, hold the property for communities. Pope Gregory IX, or Ugolino’s rule, was not adopted by Clare or the monastery at San Damiano. It was founded on the Benedictine one, which was accepted but many of the monasteries spread across Europe. The ones who followed the stricter rule were smaller in size compared to the ones who followed the new rule of Pope Gregory IX. More branches of Poor Clares expanded when St. Colette or Corbie renewed the primary rule of poverty to seventeen new French monasteries. These followers were known as Colettine Poor Clares. Next, another two branches emerged. The Capuchin Poor Clares and the Alcantarines who also followed the strict rule. Later, this group ended due to observance by the Friars of the First Order. “The spread of the order began in 1218 when a monastery was founded in Perugia; new foundations quickly followed in Florence, Venice, Mantua, and Padua. Saint Agnes of Assisi, a sister of Clare, introduced the order to Spain, where Barcelona and Burgos hosted …show more content…

Although, many documents and records, including tradition, informs us that she came from a well-off family in Assisi. The preaching of Francis in the cathedral inspired Clare to run away at the age of eighteen. She joined his society of friars at a small Catholic church, the Portiuncula. Her family soon tried to take her back by force and punishment, but her dedication to her faith and poverty led the Friars to accept her decision to stay. She gave to the devotion of being a nun and transferred to the monasteries of Benedictine. First, she transferred to Bastia and then moved to Sant' Angelo di Panzo, to further her monastery. In the year of 1216, Francis came to offer Clare and her followers a monastery in San Damiano. She soon became an abbess here. Her mother, along with her sisters and women from Florence soon become involved in her mission. Clare’s order dedicated themselves to the strict law of Francis, which set a foundation for poverty. Clare had a strict rule that her community would not be wealthy or own property and that they live strictly in places given to them by other people. Instead of investing in wealthy objects and lifestyles they, “spread through Europe and other places and brought the rich spirituality of the new reform to those places” (Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Poor

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