Miracles in the life of Saint Clare of Montefalco

Miracles in the life of Saint Clare of Montefalco

The year 1294 was to be a turning point for Clare of Montefalco. 

The Christmas of the past year had found her quite ill.  Judging herself lacking in gratitude for all God had given her, Clare attributed the spiritual dryness she felt as God withholding His Divine Presence from her because of her sinfulness.

On the Feast of the Epiphany, after making a general confession before all the Nuns, she went into ecstasy, remaining in that state for several weeks. 

The Nuns kept her alive with a little sugar water they would give her to sip.

During that journey away from the world, Clare of Montefalco had a Vision in which she saw herself in judgment before God;

she "saw" hell with all the suffering lost souls without hope, and Heaven with the Saints enjoying perfect happiness in the Presence of God. 

She saw God in all His Majesty.  He revealed to her how very uncompromisingly faithful to Him a soul must live in order to be in Him. 

When she came to, she resolved never to think anything, never to say anything, that would separate her from God. 

"And by the grace of God," she confided to a friend years later, "up to now I have been able to maintain this resolve."

"At last, someone I could trust with My Cross."

In the Chapel of the Holy Cross there is a fresco depicting Christ, dressed as a poor pilgrim, His Face weary from the weight of the Cross, His Body showing the outward signs of the long, hard journey carrying His Cross. 

In the foreground we see Clare kneeling, trying to keep Him from going any further, pleading, "Lord, where are You going?" 

To which, Christ responds, "I have searched the whole world for a strong place to plant firmly this Cross, and I have not found one."

In the Nuns' Chapel, there is another small fresco. 

Clare of Montefalco is looking up to Jesus, her hands outstretched touching the Cross, expressing all the years of longing to share Jesus' Cross. 

Our Lord's Face is no longer gaunt with exhaustion, but beaming with love and joy.  His Journey is over.  He says to her, "Yes, Clare, here I have found a place for My Cross, at last, someone I could trust with My Cross," and He thrust it into her heart.

The excruciating pain she felt in her entire body, upon receiving the Cross Jesus Himself planted in her heart, remained with her. 

From that first moment, Clare of Montefalco was always keenly aware of the Cross she could not only feel but sense with every fiber of her being. 

He was part of her; her Love; Jesus and she were one in His Cross. 

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