The love between Clare and Francis of Assisi

Leonardo Boff

13/03/2011

Opinión

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Francis (†1226) and Clare (†1253), both from Assisi, Italy, are two of the most beloved figures of Christendom, of whom we can be very proud. They combined three great passions: a passion for Christ, the poor and crucified, for the poor, especially the lepers, and for each other. Their love for Christ and the poor did not diminish the profound love that united them, proving that true love and relationships of profound tenderness can exist between people who consecrate themselves to God and the service of the other. There was something mysterious between Francis and Clare, that combines Eros and Agape, fascination and transfiguration. The stories preserved from that epoch speak of their frequent encounters. However, «they arranged these encounters so that their divine mutual attraction would pass unnoticed by the eyes of the people, thus avoiding public rumors.»

Logically, in a tiny city such as Assisi everyone knew everything about everybody. Thus, they knew about the love between Clare and Francis. An old legend addresses this with tender candor: «On a certain occasion, Francis had heard inconvenient rumors. He went to Clare and told her: "Have you heard, Sister, what people say about us?" Clare did not answer. She felt as if her heart were going to stop and that if she spoke one more word, she would cry. "Is time that we separate," Francis said. "You go ahead and before nightfall you will have arrived to the convent. I will go alone and accompany you from a distance, as the Lord guides me." Clare fell to her knees in the middle of the path. When she recovered, she stood up and continued walking, without looking back. The path went through a forest. Suddenly, she felt weak, inconsolable, and without hope, not having had a single farewell word before separating from Francis. She waited a little. "Father", she said to him, "when will we see each other again?" Francis replied: "When Summer comes, when roses bloom again." And then, in that moment, something marvelous happened: it seemed as if Summer had arrived, and thousands and thousands of flowers bloomed all over the snow covered fields. After her initial astonishment, Clare quickly gathered a bouquet of roses and put them in the hands of Francis.» And the legend ends: «From that moment, Francis and Clare never again separated.»

We should note the symbolic language of legends. Legends guard the meaning of the primordial facts of the heart and of love. «Francis and Clare never again separated,» that is, they knew how to combine their love for each other with their love for Christ and for the poor in such a way that it was one single great love. In effect, neither left the heart of the other. A witness to the canonization of Clare says with grazie that Francis «seemed to her like gold, so clear and luminous that she also saw herself as clear and luminous, as if in a mirror.» Can the fusion of love between two persons of exceptional greatness of soul be better expressed?

They consulted with each other in their searches and doubts, and sought a path in prayer. A biographical story of the epoch says: «Once Francis, tired, arrived at a spring of crystalline water, and he bent over to gaze into those clear waters for long moments. Afterwards, he recovered, and joyfully said to fray Leon, his intimate friend: "Fray Leon, little sheep of God, what do you think I saw in the clear waters of the fountain?" Fray Leon replied: "The moon, whose reflection is there." "No, brother, I did not see the moon, but the face of our sister Clare, filled with holy happiness, so that all my sadness disappeared."»

Now in 2011, we celebrate 800 years since the foundation of the Second Order, the Clares (las Clarisas), named for Clare. The historical tale could not be more full of loving density. Francis and Clare decided that, beautifully attired, on the night of Palm Sunday she would run away from her home and come to find him in the small chapel he had built, the Porziuncola. In truth, she abandoned her home and came to the little chapel where Francis and his companions, with lit torches, awaited. They received her joyfully, with applause and immense affection. Francis cut her beautiful blonde hair. This symbolized her entry into the new religious path. Then there were two, on one and the same path, and until now, they have «never again separated.»

- Leonardo Boff, Theologian, Earthcharter Commission

Free translation from the Spanish sent by Melina Alfaro, done

at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.

https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/148410