First Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague
1 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 28:19). Amen.
2 Clare, in all things her subject and servant, a handmaid of Jesus Christ and the unprofitable (cf. Lk 17:10) servant of the ladies enclosed in the monastery of San Damiano, offers her complete devotion and her special wish that she may attain the glory (cf. Sir 50:5) of eternal happiness.
3 The noble fame of your holy conduct and life has reached not only me but has spread gloriously almost throughout the whole world; I rejoice greatly at this in the Lord and exult (cf. Hab 3:18);
4 and not only I can rejoice at it, but all who serve or desire to serve Jesus Christ.
5 For although you could have enjoyed, more than others, the splendour, honours and dignities of the world, and could have lawfully married the illustrious emperor with great glory, as befitted your rank and his,
6 you rejected all this and with your whole soul and heart chose instead most holy poverty and bodily want,
7 taking a Spouse of nobler lineage, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will keep your virginity always spotless and unharmed.
8 Loving Him, you are chaste; touching Him, you will become still purer; receiving Him, you are a virgin.
9 His power is greater, His nobility higher, His gaze more beautiful, His love sweeter and all His grace more refined.
10 He has already taken you into His embrace; He has adorned your breast with precious stones and placed priceless pearls in your ears,
11 He has decked you all over with lovely, shining jewels and crowned your head with a golden crown bearing the sign of holiness (Sir 45:14).
12 And so, dearest sister, or rather lady worthy of all respect, you are the spouse, the mother and the sister of my Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Cor 11:2; Mt 12:50),
13 marked out in a remarkable way by the banner of unbroken virginity and most holy poverty: be strong in the holy service you have begun out of ardent longing for the poor Crucified One,
14 who for us all endured the suffering of the cross (cf. Heb 12:2) and delivered us from the power of the prince of darkness (cf. Col 1:13), who held us bound in chains because of the sin of Adam. And so He reconciled us (cf. 2 Cor 5:18) to God the Father.
15 O blessed poverty! To those who love it with all their heart it gives eternal riches.
16 O holy poverty! To those who possess and desire it God promises the kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 5:3) and without doubt gives eternal glory and a blessed life.
17 O poverty pleasing to God! Jesus Christ, who ruled and rules heaven and earth, who spoke and all things were made (cf. Ps 33:9), deigned to choose its company above all else.
18 He says: Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man, that is Christ, has nowhere to lay His head (Mt 8:20), but bowing His head, He gave up His spirit (Jn 19:30).
19 If, then, so great a Lord came down into the womb of the Virgin and chose to appear in the world despised, needy and poor (cf. 2 Cor 8:9),
20 so that people who were poor and needy, suffering a great lack of heavenly food, might become rich in Him by possessing the kingdom of heaven,
21 rejoice greatly and exult (cf. Hab 3:18), and be filled with great gladness and spiritual joy.
22 For contempt of the world has pleased you more than honours, poverty more than earthly riches, and storing up treasures not on earth but in heaven,
23 where neither rust nor moth destroys and thieves do not break in and steal (Mt 6:20),
24 and you have well deserved to be called sister, spouse and mother of the Son of the Most High Father (cf. 2 Cor 11:2; Mt 12:50) and of the glorious Virgin.
25 You have understood, I firmly believe, that the Lord promises and gives the kingdom of heaven only to the poor (cf. Mt 5:3), for whoever loves temporal things loses the fruit of love.
26 For no one can serve God and mammon, since either one loves the one and hates the other, or serves the one and despises the other (cf. Mt 6:24).
27 You know that a man who is clothed cannot fight one who is naked, because the one who can be grabbed is more easily thrown to the ground; and you know that one cannot seek glory in this world and reign with Christ in the next,
28 and that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven (cf. Mt 19:24).
29 That is why you have cast off your garments, that is, earthly riches, so as not to be overcome at all by the one who fights against you, and to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven by the narrow way and the strait gate (cf. Mt 7:13-14).
30 It is truly a great and praiseworthy exchange: to leave temporal goods for eternal ones, to earn heavenly goods instead of earthly ones, to receive a hundredfold for one and to possess the blessed eternal life (cf. Mt 19:29).
31 Therefore, out of love for Christ (cf. Phil 1:8), I have thought it right to ask and beg your excellency and holiness, as humbly as I can,
32 to be strong in His holy service, growing from good to better, from virtue to virtue (cf. Ps 84:8), so that He whom you serve with all your heart may deign to grant you the reward you long for.
33 I also earnestly ask you in the Lord, as much as I can, to remember me, your unprofitable (cf. Lk 17:10) servant, and the other sisters devoted to you who live with me in the monastery, in your holy prayers (cf. Rom 15:30),
34 so that with your help we may deserve the mercy of Jesus Christ and rejoice with you in the eternal vision of God.
35 Farewell in the Lord, and pray for me (cf. 1 Thess 5:25).
Translated from the Polish edition of the writings of St. Clare.