Imagine the parents of sisters who become saints--they must have been remarkable people. Today, the feast day of Saint Agnes of Assisi and her sister Clare are both proclaimed saints in the Catholic Church.
They were daughters of Count Favorino Scifi and Blessed Hortulana and were raised in castles around Assisi. Agnes, born in 1197, was the younger sister of Clare and her first follower who left home two weeks after Clare did to join the Benedictines at San Angelo di Panzo at age 15. Agnes' family tried to bring Agnes back by force dragging her from the monastery, but her body became heavy that even several knights could not move her. Her uncle Monaldo tried to beat her, but he became temporarily paralyzed. After that, the family left the two sisters in peace.
In 1221 a group of Benedictine nuns in Monticelli asked to become Poor Clares and Saint Francis assigned Agnes as their Abbess. Agnes missed her sister Clare very much and the other nuns at San Damiano. After establishing other Poor Clare monasteries in Italy, in 1253 Agnes returned to see Clare when she was dying. Agnes died three months later. She died in the monastery of San Damiano on November 16, 1253. She is buried in the Santa Chiara Church in Assisi.
I had always heard of the Poor Clare nuns, but I had not idea there order was almost 1,000 years old. There are convents in over 20 countries in the world.
PRAYER
O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst set up Blessed Agnes before many virgins as a model and guide to evangelical perfection, grant, we beseech Thee, that the seraphic spirit, which she so wisely taught and confirmed by her holy example, may be preserved in us from all taint. Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
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