St. Clare of Montefalco led a convent in 13th century Italy, and did so with such holiness that she inspired many to seek perfection by imitating her example.

As a young woman, Clare gathered with a number of her own sisters and friends to live in Christian community together. They adopted a rule of life based on the Franciscan order, and one of Clare’s sisters was later chosen to lead a convent in Montefalco, Italy, under the Augustinian rule of religious life.

When her sister died, Clare, already known for her holiness, was asked to lead the community. Her devotion and personal prayer inspired the community to greater faithfulness.

Miracles were attributed to her as well as supernatural gifts and capacities, which she used to serve others. She had a great devotion to the suffering and death of Jesus and told a sister, “If you seek the cross of Christ, take my heart; there you will find the suffering Lord.” After her death, her community was in the process of removing her heart to place it in a reliquary (a practice not uncommon at the time), when they discovered that the muscle fibers of her heart held a perfect image of Jesus on the cross.

She died in 1308, and her body remained incorruptible—in 1881, a visiting reporter beheld her face and hands and noted that she appeared to be simply asleep. Her relics rest in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and her image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Clare of Montefalco, your physical heart was found to bear the image of the crucifixion—pray for us!