800 years since st. Clare joined Francis at the Portiuncula

Fr. Noel Muscat OFM

On 28 March 2011 it will be exactly 800 years since Clare of Assisi left her paternal house in Piazza San Rufino in Assisi, to join Francis at the Portiuncula chapel. On that night the Order of Poor Ladies was born, which was to become the Second Franciscan Order, or Order of Saint Clare. This year the event will be celebrated with special solemnity in many monasteries of the Poor Clares. In order to mark the moment of the evangelical vocation of the pianticella, or little plant, of Francis, as Clare would call herself, Noel Muscat ofm is presenting another paper in this section of our website entitled “The Night when Clare of Assisi left her Paternal House”.