Studying St. Clare: Doors Opened and Closed 2/25

Winter Franciscan Zoom Lecture #4: Sister Margaret Carney

The video recording is available on YouTube Channel FST EDU1

We often focus on events that tell of Clare’s interactions with Francis during his life. What happens after his death? In his biography of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano describes the hour when the body of Francis was brought to San Damiano in these words: “Once he was taken away, the door , that never again will suffer such pain, was closed on them.” (The Life of St. Francis, Second Book, Chapter X)

This lecture will focus on what happened in the years following the death of Francis. How did St. Clare negotiate the changing circumstances of her relationship with church authority, the brothers, and developments within her sisterhood? How did the various “doors” of life, of possibility open or close during these very important years in which she was a singular leader within the circle of early followers?