Basilica of St. Clare (Tomb of St. Clare)

The Story

The Basilica of Santa Chiara in Assisi, Italy, with its striped pink-and-white facade and sweeping buttresses, holds the tomb of St. Clare (1194-1253), the first woman to follow St. Francis and the foundress of the Poor Clares. Born Chiara Offreduccio to a noble family, Clare fled her home at eighteen to embrace the Gospel life of poverty that Francis preached. From the little convent of San Damiano below the city she led her sisters for forty years in a life of prayer, labor, and radical trust in God, becoming the first woman in Church history to write a religious rule of her own. According to the traditional account, when Saracen mercenaries threatened the convent, Clare confronted them holding the Blessed Sacrament, and the danger passed. She died on August 11, 1253, and was canonized just two years later. Construction of the basilica began in 1257 over the church of San Giorgio, and in 1260 her remains were transferred there. Rediscovered beneath the high altar in 1850, they now rest in a shrine in the crypt, where pilgrims file past in prayer. The basilica also guards the San Damiano Crucifix, the painted cross before which, tradition holds, the young Francis heard Christ say, "Go, rebuild my Church." Kept by the Poor Clares for seven centuries, it has been displayed for public veneration since 1957, joining the memory of Assisi's two great saints under one roof.

Church Recognition

St. Clare was canonized by Pope Alexander IV in 1255, only two years after her death, and the basilica raised over her tomb remains in the care of the Church and the Poor Clares, whose order continues worldwide.

Catholic Teaching

St. Clare's tomb witnesses to the Church's teaching on consecrated life and evangelical poverty (CCC 915-916; 944) and on the veneration of the saints' relics (CCC 1674); her defense of her sisters with the Blessed Sacrament speaks eloquently of faith in the Real Presence (CCC 1373-1381).

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Basilica of Santa Chiara also preserves the San Damiano crucifix.

Go Deeper

Read St. Clare's letters to St. Agnes of Prague and her Rule — the first written by a woman — along with the Catechism on consecrated life (CCC 914-933); the basilica and the nearby convent of San Damiano together tell the story of her vocation.