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      Today is the Feast of the virgin and religious foundress Saint Clare of Assisi who, with Saint Francis established the Franciscan Order of nuns. Tomorrow we return to Ordinary Time for Thursday. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignette for St. Clare, click on DAILY LITURGY.

Wednesday August 11:
Feast of Saint Clare, Virgin and Religious Foundress

White vestments

First Reading: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
Psalms: Psalm 66: 1-3, 5, 8, 16-17
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18: 15-20

      So impressed was Saint Clare of Assisi by the Lenten sermon of Saint Francis of Assisi that she fled her wealthy home at the age of 18. Rather than submitting to her parents' wishes to be married to an influential nobleman, she submitted to Christ and on Palm Sunday in 1212 received the habit from Francis at the Portiuncula. Because Francis had no convent, Clare became a Benedictine nun at St. Paul in Bastia. Her life of edification and example convinced her own sister Agnes and mother to join her in the convent. This catapulted into more aristocratic women joining and soon Francis decided to build a house next to the church at San Damiano where he appointed Clare in 1215 the Mother Superior, a position she held for forty years. Thus the Order of the Poor Clares were founded, though they were at first called "The Poor Ladies of San Damiano." At Francis' request, Pope Gregory IX drew up the first Rule for Clare and her fellow sisters in 1228. The nuns were so intent on practicing an austere life that Francis several times had to step in and reprimand them for being too severe on themselves. Yet Clare insisted on the strict vow of poverty and sought out Pope Innocent IV to receive from him assurance that this vow would be upheld and respected by the Church which his namesake Pope Innocent III and successor Gregory IX had assured. She did this knowing full well the temptations of receiving property and gifts from noble families who sought to bestow their wealth on the Church by lavishing the clergy and religious with gifts in return for favors. Clare wanted this vow to be pure and free from any tainting. Some of the popes rescinded this vow and many of the orders as well as some of those under Francis opted for modification of the rule which relaxed the vow of poverty. Clare would have none of it and she drew up a stricter rule in the spirit of Francis' rule guaranteeing absolute poverty for the Order. Throughout her life Clare sought from the supreme pontiffs the privilege of not receiving any privileges except the grace of God. This dedication to shunning everything of the world to embrace God and His Will paid off in dividends as vocations multiplied a hundredfold while the other orders suffered in recruiting. It was an omen of what has happened today in the religious orders. Those who have stuck by the strict rule their founders established have flourished while those who have slacked off, turning their back on the traditions of their orders, are closing their doors for lack of vocations and inspiration. Clare's dedication and persistence was an inspiration to priests, bishops and even popes during her lifetime. They sought her out for consultation and often offered generous remuneration for her time, but always she refused. Clare grieved greatly at the death of Francis but realized God had much more work for her to finish before He called her home to be with the humble founder of the Franciscans. Clare always had a deep and abiding love for Jesus, especially in the Most Blessed Sacrament and, in 1241 when the Emperor Frederick II threatened at the walls of Assisi, she confidently climbed to the top of the fortress and there held aloft the Eucharist within the Monstrance. She is often depicted in this manner. In the same miraculous way Pope Leo the Great had stopped Attila the Hun at the gates of Rome, Clare's heartfelt prayers were answered and Frederick retreated. Twelve years later, on August 11, 1253 Clare closed her eyes in Assisi for the final time. It was time to join Francis in Heaven. Less than two years after her death Pope Alexander IV canonized this holy foundress of the Poor Clare nuns.

Thursday August 12:
Nineteenth Thursday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Josue 3: 7-11, 13-17
Psalms: Psalm 114: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18: 21-20

 l;    Today, in honor of Saint Clare, we bring you the Preface from the Franciscan Missal for the Mass in her honor:

You wondrously inflamed Your servant Clare to follow like Francis in the footsteps of Your Son. To him You espoused her mystically through perpetual fidelity and love. Raising her to the summit of seraphic perfection through the highest poverty, You made her the mother of countless virgins.

Events Today in Church History

      On this date 507 years ago the political powerhouse prelate Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja y Borgia bribed his way into being elected the 214th successor of Peter, taking the name Pope Alexander IV. The high honor did not transform him into a saint, but rather an even more devious Pontiff who used his authority to wield power and curry favors while punishing his enemies. For other pertinent events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history today, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for August 11:

1253 A.D.


Death of Saint Clare of Assisi, who, with the help of her mentor Saint Francis of Assisi, founded the Poor Clares. For more, see DAILY LITURGY.

1492 A.D.


Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja y Borgia is elected Pope Alexander VI as 214th successor of Peter, the pontiff who, by a simple mark on the maps of the new lands of America, he decided the destiny of the new continent but, by his conduct set the Church back considerably and brought scandal on the Holy See which had a great effect on the unrest that resulted in the Reformation.

Chinese add to their snub of the Pope by denying Portugal Papal Envoy at upcoming ceremonies in Hong Kong

      On the heals of Red China's refusal to allow the Pope to visit Hong Kong, they're at it again. This time they are refusing the presence of a Papal Envoy from Portugal during ceremonies on December 20 marking the transfer of the Portuguese territory of Macau to Communist China. While Communist officials insist it is all over the Taiwan recognition, Church officials believe it really is about any kind of influence from the Roman Catholic Church which is struggling in the face of forced worship at the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church which is run by the communists and not in union with Rome. For more, click on Papal snub.

      HONG KONG (CWNews.com) - Newspaper in Hong Kong reported on Tuesday that China and Portugal have disagreed over Portugal's plan to invite a papal envoy to attend ceremonies marking the handover of the Portugese colony of Macau to Communist China on December 20.

      The controversy followed reports on Monday that China had refused permission for Pope John Paul II to visit Hong Kong during his visit to Asia later this year. While Chinese sources said the Vatican's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan was at the center of dispute, Church sources said the decision revolved around China's ban of the Church on the mainland while setting up a Communist-controlled Catholic organization.

      The South China Morning Post newspaper said China told Portugal that it doesn't want a papal envoy on the guest list when Macau is returned to China after 442 years of Portugese rule. "The Taiwan issue is hindering the finalization of talks," the Post quoted a European diplomat as saying. In Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity said China and Portugal agreed they would not invite guests from any countries with which they did not have diplomatic relations.

Cardinal answers critics who lambast him for supporting Air Force Officer's cause

      Speaking with authority, the Archbishop of New York Cardinal John J. O'Connor, who is also the retired U.S. Chief of Navy Chaplains as a Rear Admiral, called on the United States military to honor the integrity of conscience and a person's faith, a concern stemming from the case of Lieutenant Ryan Berry, a married Catholic officer who was forced to bunk with female officers even though he is married. He protested and the Air Force said "tough luck, live with it or be transfered!" Cardinal O'Connor doesn't think he should have to live with that predicament for it goes against Berry's faith and conscience and to live in grace is more important than to "live with it." For more, click on Cardinal O'Connor.

      NEW YORK, AUG 9 (ZENIT).- On July 29, Cardinal John O'Connor added his voice in support of Lt. Ryan Berry, who was reprimanded by the Air Force for seeking to follow his Catholic conscience, in his weekly "Viewpoint" column. In this week's column he reports the reaction. The diocesan office is receiving numerous calls from feminist groups accusing him of chauvinism and discrimination. Cardinal O'Connor denies this analysis. He states that the real issue behind Berry's case is that of integrity of conscience.

      Citing his experiences in the Vietnam War, Cardinal O'Connor assures that integrity of conscience is necessary for military discipline. He quotes Vatican II to explain the Church's position. "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law that he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey."

      "I can no more determine Lt. Berry's conscience than can his commanding general. Nor can I determine whether this woman or that man is an occasion of temptation or sin in a given set of circumstances. Nor am I interested in trying to do either. My interest is in respect for the human conscience. When I took an oath of office as a military officer, I pledged, 'I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic . . . so help me God.' Every military officer takes that same oath. What guarantees fidelity to his or her oath but conscience?" the Cardinal asked. ZE99080920

Little Audrey Santo marks 12th Anniversary of her long illness with special Mass in Worcester, Mass

      Over five thousand packed the Church of Christ the King in Worcester, Massachusetts Monday , many overflowing into the street for the chance to see the "miracle girl" Audrey Santo, best known as "little Audrey" who has been in a suspended-like state for twelve years. Monday marked the 12th anniversary when an accident in a swimming pool rendered her helpless. But she is not hopeless and no longer "little Audrey" for she is now 15 and helping so many through her prayers and miraculous intercession and signs which are under investigation by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly. For more, click on Little Audrey

      WORCESTER, Massachusetts (CWNews.com) - Up to 5,000 people came to a church in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Monday to visit a 15-year-old girl on the 12th anniversary of the accident that left her in a coma and began her life as an alleged conduit of miraculous healings.

      Long lines of people, many of them with chronic or terminal illnesses, walked by the bed of Audrey Santo at Christ the King Church, asking her to pray for them in an annual event that has come to mark the swimming pool accident that left the girl in a coma at age 3. Since then, mysterious oils oozing from paintings and statues, as well as numerous unexplained healings has spread the girl's story across the country.

      The bishop of Worcester has ordered an investigation in to the phenomena surrounding the little girl, although no conclusion has yet been reached.

Catholic tensions mount in Scotland and Northern Ireland

      All is not well in Scotland or Northern Ireland for that matter. Regarding the former, a well-known Scottish composer claims anti-Catholicism is rampant in this land once ruled by the Catholic Queen Mary, Queen of Scots. He cites various incidences that bear out his accounts. Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea in Belfast tensions are building once again at the news that the Apprentice Boys, a radical Protestant faction, has received permission to march through predominantly Catholic neighborhoods and the Catholics are furious, feeling the Orange are just rubbing their faces in it. They threaten to protest which could ensue in violent clashes. For more, click on Catholic tensions.

      EDINBURGH (CWNews.com) - A leading Scottish composer said at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival that Scotland's hidden shame is rampant anti-Catholic bigotry.

      "In many walks of life -- in the workplace, in the professions, in academia, in the media, in politics and in sport -- anti-Catholicism, even when it is not particularly malign, is as endemic as it is second nature," said James MacMillan, a Catholic from Glasgow. "Many of us are either happy to live with or deny completely the existence of anti-Catholicism, which is still a significant element of Scottish culture," added MacMillan, who composed the fanfare for the opening in July of the first Scottish parliament in 300 years.

      MacMillan's composition, the Seven Last Words from the Cross, is a finalist for the festival's Mercury prize. After citing the Protestant Orange marches that are still held every year, similar to those held in Northern Ireland, commemorating historic victories over Catholics, and the sometimes violent soccer rivalry between the mainly Catholic Celtics and mainly Protestant Rangers.

      "I have been spat on for being Catholic. And when my daughter attended her first Easter vigil at the age of six, she came into her first contact with sectarian abuse from a few drunks who noticed the candles burning outside," MacMillan said.

      Last week, a magazine run by the Free Presbyterian Church condemned the influence of the late English Cardinal Basil Hume, and members of the Church of Scotland launched a campaign to make members of the new Scottish parliament use Presbyterian prayers instead of planned prayers that embrace all faiths.

      Meanwhile in Belfast, the Northern Ireland Parades Commission on Monday gave permission to the Protestant Apprentice Boys group to hold a controversial march through a Catholic neighborhood in Belfast, prompting fears of a clash.

      The Apprentice Boys will be allowed to march along Lower Ormeau Road on Saturday as part of the annual marches which historic victories over Catholics. The commission said it gave permission because there had been progress in dialogue between the Apprentice Boys and the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (LOCC) group.

      But LOCC representatives protested the decision calling it "unfair." "We are very angry at this decision," said LOCC spokesman John Gormley, vowing that residents would demonstrate against the march when it passed through their neighborhood.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the features, dossiers and Daily Dispatches at ZENIT International News Agency. CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

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August 11, 1999 volume 10, no. 150   DAILY CATHOLIC