Eighteen-year-old Clare secretly left her family home on the night between Palm Sunday and Monday of Holy Week 1211; that same night she received the habit at the Portiuncula, where Francis was waiting with his disciples.
Companions soon joined her, and so the second Franciscan Order came into being, the Order of the Poor Sisters. The monastery of San Damiano, restored by Francis, became its cradle.
For this new family of his, Francis wrote a short Rule made up mainly of words from Holy Scripture. Like the original Rule of the Friars Minor, this Rule has not survived to our times. Only two fragments remain, which Clare later quoted in her own Rule.
While Francis and Clare were alive, their example and words supplied what the Rule lacked. But it was necessary to think of the future, when they would no longer be present. It was necessary to think of the monasteries of Poor Sisters already springing up in other Italian towns and beyond Italy, which had never seen either Francis or Clare.
These needs were to be met by the rules written for the Poor Sisters by Cardinal Hugolino at the end of 1218 or 1219 and by Pope Innocent IV in 1247.
These rules, however, did not win Clare's approval, because they did not settle as she wished the two matters for which she fought all her life: that the spiritual care of the monasteries of Poor Sisters should belong to the Friars Minor, and that these monasteries should be able to live in complete Gospel poverty.
After 1247 Clare herself set about writing a Rule. On the day before her death, 10 August 1253, she was granted a great joy: she received the papal bull approving her Rule. In the margin of this bull, which has survived to our times, there are words added by another hand: "Hanc beata Clara tetigit et osculata est pro devotione pluribus vicibus" (Blessed Clare touched it and kissed it many times out of devotion).
In writing her Rule Clare took as her model the Rule of the Friars Minor of 1223. At times she used the same wording. Yet she remained herself and did not imitate Francis slavishly. She even made some provisions stricter, for example those on fasting, on accepting money and on admitting candidates. It is a strict and demanding Rule, yet it breathes peace and joy like the Gospel. It begins with the words: "The form of life of the Order of the Poor Sisters, founded by Saint Francis, is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity".
Bull of Pope Innocent IV
Innocent, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved daughters in Christ, Clare, Abbess, and the other sisters of the monastery of San Damiano in Assisi, greeting and apostolic blessing.
The Apostolic See is accustomed to grant the devout wishes of those who ask and to give gracious support to their just requests. You have humbly asked us to strengthen with our apostolic authority the form of life according to which you are to live together in spiritual unity, observing the vow of the highest poverty. This form of life, given to you by Saint Francis and freely accepted by you, our venerable brother the Bishop of Ostia and Velletri judged worthy of approval, as the letter of that bishop clearly states.
Yielding, therefore, to your respectful requests, we approve it by the decision of that bishop, confirm it by apostolic authority and fortify it by the force of this document. We quote the text of that letter here word for word; it reads as follows:
"Rinaldo, by the mercy of God Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, to his dearest mother and daughter in Christ, the Lady Clare, Abbess of the monastery of San Damiano in Assisi, and to her sisters, both present and future, greeting and fatherly blessing.
Beloved daughters in Christ, you have despised the splendour and pleasures of the world and, following in the footsteps of Christ Himself and of His most holy Mother, you have chosen a life of enclosure and poverty in order to serve the most high Lord with a free heart. Therefore, commending your holy resolution to the Lord, we wish to give your holy desires our gracious support with all fatherly goodwill.
Yielding to your devout requests, by the authority of the Holy Father and by our own we hereby confirm for ever, for all of you living in this monastery and for those who will come after you, the form of life in holy unity and the highest poverty which your holy Father Francis gave you.
This is the text of the form of life:
Chapter 1. In the name of the Lord begins the form of life of the Poor Sisters
1 The form of life of the Order of the Poor Sisters, founded by Saint Francis, is this:
2 to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity.
3 Clare, the unworthy servant of Christ and little plant of the holy Father Francis, promises obedience and reverence to Pope Innocent and his canonically elected successors, and to the Roman Church.
4 And as at the beginning of her conversion, together with her sisters, she promised obedience to Saint Francis, so she promises to observe it inviolably towards his successors.
5 And the other sisters are always bound to obey the successors of Saint Francis, Sister Clare and the other abbesses canonically elected after her.
Chapter 2. Candidates and how they are to be received
1 If anyone, by divine inspiration, comes to us wishing to accept this life, the abbess is bound to ask the consent of all her sisters;
2 if the majority agree, she may receive her, having obtained the permission of the Cardinal Protector.
3 Before she is received, let the abbess examine her herself, or have someone else examine her, concerning the Catholic faith and the sacraments of the Church.
4 If the candidate believes all these things and is willing to profess them faithfully and observe them steadfastly until death;
5 if she has no husband or, if she has one, he has already entered religious life with the authority of the diocesan bishop and has made a vow of chastity;
6 and if advanced age, poor health or weakness of mind does not prevent her from observing our life,
7 then the principles of our life should be carefully explained to her.
8 If she is suitable, the words of the holy Gospel should be spoken to her, that she should go and sell all she has and take care to give it to the poor (cf. Mt 19:21).
9 If she cannot do this, her good will is enough.
10 Neither the abbess nor the other sisters should concern themselves with the temporal goods of the candidate, so that she may freely dispose of them as the Lord inspires her.
11 But if she asks for advice, she should be sent to some prudent and God-fearing people (cf. Acts 13:16), so that she may give her goods to the poor on their advice.
12 Afterwards, when her hair has been cut and her secular clothes removed, the abbess shall give her three tunics and a mantle.
13 From then on she may not go outside the monastery without a useful, reasonable, evident and credible reason.
14 After a year of probation let her be received to obedience, promising to observe for ever the life and form of our poverty.
15 No one is to receive the veil during the time of probation.
16 The sisters may wear aprons for cleanliness and to make work and service easier.
17 Let the abbess provide them prudently with clothing according to personal needs, place, season and climate, as necessity requires.
18 Young girls received into the monastery before the prescribed age should have their hair cut,
19 and, when their secular clothes have been removed, they should be clothed in a garment like the religious habit, as the abbess sees fit.
20 When they reach the proper age, let them receive the tunic like the others and make their profession.
21 For them and for the other novices the abbess shall carefully choose a mistress from among the more prudent sisters of the whole monastery,
22 to teach them diligently holiness of life and good conduct in keeping with our profession.
23 The same procedure is to be followed in examining and receiving the sisters who serve outside the monastery; these sisters, however, may wear shoes.
24 No woman may live with us in the monastery unless she has first been received in a way consistent with our profession.
25 For the love of the most holy and most dear Child, wrapped in very poor swaddling clothes and laid in a manger (cf. Lk 2:7.12), and for the love of His most holy Mother, I admonish, beg and exhort my sisters always to wear poor clothing.
Chapter 3. The Divine Office, fasting, confession and Communion
1 The sisters who can read are to pray the Divine Office according to the custom of the Friars Minor, but without singing; for this reason they may have breviaries.
2 And if any of them, for a reasonable cause, cannot occasionally say the hours, they may, like the other sisters, say the Our Father (Mt 6:9-13).
3 Those who cannot read are to say twenty-four Our Fathers for Matins and five for Lauds;
4 for Prime, Terce, Sext and None, seven for each of these hours; twelve for Vespers; seven for Compline.
5 For the dead let them say seven Our Fathers at Vespers, each followed by Eternal rest (cf. 2 Esd 2:34-35), and twelve at Matins,
6 while the sisters who can read are obliged to pray the Office for the dead.
7 And when a sister of our monastery dies, they shall say fifty Our Fathers.
8 The sisters are to fast at all times.
9 On the feast of Christmas, however, whatever day it falls on, they may eat twice.
10 The very young and weak sisters and those who work outside the monastery may be mercifully dispensed from fasting as the abbess sees fit.
11 In a time of evident necessity the sisters are not bound to bodily fasting.
12 The sisters should go to confession at least twelve times a year, with the permission of the abbess.
13 And at that time they should not speak of things that do not concern confession and the salvation of souls.
14 Let the sisters receive Holy Communion seven times: at Christmas, on Holy Thursday, at Easter, at Pentecost, on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the feast of Saint Francis and on All Saints.
15 The chaplain may celebrate Mass inside the enclosure to give Holy Communion to the sisters, whether healthy or sick.
Chapter 4. The election and office of the abbess, the chapter, the officials and the councillors
1 In electing the abbess the sisters are bound to observe the canonical form of election.
2 Let them take care in good time that the Minister General or Provincial of the Order of Friars Minor be present,
3 who will exhort them by the word of God to hold the election in perfect harmony and for the common good.
4 Only a professed sister may be elected.
5 If a sister who has not made profession is elected or appointed in some way, she is not to be obeyed until she makes her profession, binding herself to observe the form of our poverty.
6 When the abbess dies, a new abbess is to be elected.
7 If at any time the body of the sisters judges that the abbess is not fit for the service and common good of all,
8 let the sisters, in the manner described above, elect another as abbess and mother as soon as possible.
9 Let the one elected consider what burden she has taken on herself and to whom she must render an account (cf. Mt 12:36; Heb 13:17) of the flock entrusted to her.
10 Let her strive to lead the others more by virtue and holy conduct than by her office, so that, drawn by her example, the sisters may obey her more out of love than out of fear.
11 Let her avoid particular attachments, so that by loving some more than others she may not give scandal to all.
12 Let her console the sorrowful. Let her also be the last refuge of the troubled (cf. Ps 32:7), for if they do not find in her an effective remedy, despair may overcome them.
13 Let her observe the common life in everything, especially in church, in the dormitory, in the refectory, in the infirmary and in clothing;
14 her vicar is to observe it in the same way.
15 The abbess should call her sisters to chapter at least once a week,
16 where both she and they should humbly confess their common and public faults and negligences,
17 and where together they may discuss matters concerning the welfare and good of the monastery.
18 For the Lord often reveals what is better to the least.
19 No heavy debt may be incurred without the common consent of the sisters and without evident necessity; it is to be done through a procurator.
20 Let the abbess and her sisters accept no deposits in the monastery,
21 for this often gives rise to trouble and scandal.
22 To preserve unity, mutual love and peace, all the sisters who hold the more important offices of the monastery are to be chosen with the common consent of all the sisters.
23 In the same way at least eight councillors are to be chosen, whose advice the abbess must always seek in matters required by our form of life.
24 The sisters may also, and even should, if they think it useful and fitting, remove the officials and councillors and choose others in their place.
Chapter 5. Silence, the parlour and the grille
1 Let the sisters keep silence from Compline until Terce; this rule does not apply to the sisters who serve outside the monastery.
2 Let them always keep silence in church, in the dormitory and in the refectory during meals.
3 In the infirmary they may speak with discretion, if it serves the rest and care of the sick.
4 At all times and in all places the sisters may communicate briefly and in a low voice about necessary things.
5 The sisters may not speak in the parlour or at the grille without the permission of the abbess or her vicar.
6 Those who have permission may speak, but in the presence of two sisters.
7 They may approach the grille only in the presence of at least three sisters appointed by the abbess or her vicar from among the eight sisters chosen by all as councillors of the abbess.
8 This rule binds the abbess and her vicar as well.
9 Conversations at the grille are to be as rare as possible, and at the door never.
10 On the inside the grille is to have a curtain, which may be drawn back only when the word of God is preached or when a sister has to speak with someone.
11 It should also have a wooden door, well secured with two different iron locks.
12 The door is to be locked with both keys, especially at night; let the abbess keep one key and the sacristan the other;
13 the door is always to be kept locked, except when the Divine Office is being heard or for the reasons mentioned above.
14 No sister may ever speak with anyone at the grille before sunrise or after sunset.
15 The curtain in the parlour is not to be removed; let it always hang there.
16 During the forty-day fast of Saint Martin and during Lent no sister is to speak in the parlour,
17 except for confession or some other evident necessity; this is left to the prudence of the abbess or her vicar.
Chapter 6. The promises of Saint Francis; not having possessions
1 When the most high heavenly Father deigned to enlighten my heart by His grace to do penance after the example and teaching of our holy Father Francis, shortly after his conversion, I, together with my sisters, freely promised him obedience.
2 And the holy Father, seeing that we feared neither poverty, nor work, nor hardship, nor humiliation, nor the contempt of the world, but rather considered them a delight, moved by love wrote for us this form of life:
3 "Since by divine inspiration you have made yourselves daughters and handmaids of the most high and supreme King, the heavenly Father, and have taken the Holy Spirit as your spouse, choosing to live according to the perfection of the holy Gospel,
4 I resolve and promise, for myself and for my brothers, always to have the same loving care and special solicitude for you as for them."
5 As long as he lived he faithfully fulfilled this promise and wished the brothers to fulfil it.
6 And so that we, and the sisters who would come after us, might never turn away from the poverty we had embraced, shortly before his death he once more wrote his last wish for us in these words:
7 "I, little brother Francis, wish to follow the life and poverty of our most high Lord Jesus Christ and of His most holy Mother, and to persevere in it to the end (cf. Mt 10:22).
8 And I ask you, my ladies, and I counsel you, always to live in this most holy life and poverty.
9 And take great care never to depart from it in any way through the teaching or advice of anyone."
10 And as I, together with my sisters, have tried to observe the holy poverty we promised the Lord God and Saint Francis,
11 so the abbesses who succeed me in office and all the sisters are bound to observe it inviolably to the end, that is:
12 not to receive or have possessions or property, either personally or through another person,
13 or anything that could reasonably be called property,
14 except as much land as is needed for the proper seclusion of the monastery;
15 and this land is to be cultivated only as a garden for the needs of the sisters.
Chapter 7. Work
1 The sisters to whom the Lord has given the grace of working are to work faithfully and devoutly after Terce at honest work that is useful to the community,
2 so that, banishing idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do not extinguish the spirit (cf. 1 Thess 5:19) of holy prayer and devotion, which all temporal things should serve.
3 The abbess or her vicar is to assign the manual work in chapter, before all.
4 The same is to be done if benefactors send an offering for the needs of the sisters, so that they may pray for them together.
5 Let the abbess or her vicar, with the advice of the councillors, use all gifts received for the good of the community.
Chapter 8. The sisters are to acquire nothing as their own; begging alms; the sick sisters
1 Let the sisters acquire nothing as their own: neither house, nor land, nor anything at all,
2 but as pilgrims and strangers (cf. 1 Pet 2:11) in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them confidently send for alms.
3 And they should not be ashamed of this, for the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world.
4 This is the summit of the highest poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8:2), which has made you, my dearest sisters, heirs and queens of the kingdom of heaven, made you poor in temporal things and ennobled you with virtues.
5 Let this be your portion, which leads into the land of the living (cf. Ps 142:6).
6 Cling to it completely, dearest sisters, and for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy Mother never wish to have anything else under heaven.
7 No sister may send letters or receive or give anything outside the monastery without the permission of the abbess.
8 And she may have only what the abbess gives or allows.
9 If her relatives or others send something to a sister, let the abbess have it given to her.
10 The sister may use it if she needs it; otherwise let her lovingly give it to a sister in need.
11 And if money is sent to her, let the abbess, with the advice of the councillors, provide her with what she needs.
12 As for the sick sisters, the abbess is to inquire carefully, herself and through other sisters, about the advice, food and other necessities their illness requires,
13 and, as far as local means allow, provide for them with love and mercy.
14 For all the sisters are bound to care for and serve the sick as they would wish to be served themselves in illness (cf. Mt 7:12).
15 Let each make her needs known to the other with confidence.
16 For if a mother loves and cares for her daughter according to the flesh, how much more should a sister love and care for her sister according to the Spirit!
17 Let the sick lie on sacks filled with straw and have feather pillows under their heads,
18 and those who need woollen stockings and mattresses may use them.
19 When the sick sisters are visited by those who come into the monastery, they may each say a few good words to them;
20 the other sisters, even with permission, must not dare to speak with those who enter the monastery except in the presence of two councillors appointed by the abbess or her vicar.
21 This rule binds the abbess and her vicar as well.
Chapter 9. The penance to be imposed on sisters who sin; the sisters who serve outside the monastery
1 If any sister, at the instigation of the enemy, sins mortally against our profession, let the abbess or other sisters admonish her two or three times;
2 if she does not amend, let her eat bread and water in the refectory before all the sisters for as many days as she remains obstinate.
3 She may even receive a heavier penalty, if the abbess thinks it fitting.
4 As long as she remains obstinate, let prayer be offered for her, that the Lord may enlighten her heart to repentance.
5 But let the abbess and the sisters beware of anger and agitation on account of anyone's sin,
6 for anger and agitation hinder love in ourselves and in others.
7 If it should happen, which God forbid, that one sister gives another occasion for agitation or scandal by word or gesture,
8 let the one who caused it immediately, before she offers the Lord the gift of her prayer (cf. Mt 5:23), humbly fall at the other's feet and ask forgiveness;
9 let her also ask her to intercede for her with the Lord, that He may forgive her.
10 And let the other, remembering the words of the Lord: If you do not forgive from your heart, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you (cf. Mt 6:15; 18:35),
11 generously forgive her sister every wrong done to her.
12 The sisters who serve outside the monastery are not to stay out long unless necessity requires it.
13 They should walk modestly and speak little, for the edification of all who see them.
14 Let them firmly avoid suspicious meetings and dealings with others.
15 Let them not be godmothers of men or women, so as not to give occasion for gossip and trouble.
16 Let them not dare to bring news of the world into the monastery.
17 Let them not carry outside the monastery anything that is said or done among us that could give rise to scandal.
18 And if any sister in her simplicity breaks these two rules, it is left to the prudence of the abbess to impose a penance with mercy.
19 But if it happens through a bad habit, let the abbess, with the advice of the councillors, impose a penance in proportion to the fault.
Chapter 10. The admonition and correction of the sisters
1 Let the abbess admonish and visit her sisters and correct them humbly and lovingly, not commanding them anything against their soul and our profession.
2 And let the sisters who are subjects remember that for God they have renounced their own will.
3 Therefore they are strictly bound to obey their abbesses in all that they have promised the Lord to observe and that is not against their soul and our profession.
4 Let the abbess show them such kindness that they may speak and deal with her as ladies with their servant.
5 For so it must be, that the abbess be the servant of all the sisters.
6 I admonish and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ that the sisters beware of all pride, vainglory, envy, avarice (cf. Lk 12:15), care and anxiety about this world (cf. Mt 13:22; Lk 21:34), detraction, murmuring, dissension and division.
7 Let them be careful to preserve among themselves love and unity, which is the bond of perfection (Col 3:14).
8 Let the sisters who have no learning not be eager to acquire it,
9 but let them remember that above all they should desire to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy activity,
10 to pray to Him always with a pure heart, and to have humility and patience in trouble and illness,
11 and to love those who persecute, rebuke and accuse us,
12 for the Lord says: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:10).
13 But whoever perseveres to the end will be saved (Mt 10:22).
Chapter 11. The keeping of the enclosure
1 The portress is to be mature, prudent and of suitable age; during the day let her stay near the door in an open cell without a door.
2 A suitable companion is to be assigned to her, who can take her place in everything when necessary.
3 The door is to be well secured with two different iron locks, bars and bolts.
4 Especially at night it is to be locked with two keys, one kept by the portress and the other by the abbess.
5 During the day, too, the door is not to be left unguarded, and it should be securely locked with one key.
6 Let the sisters take great care that the door is never left open, except when decency requires it, and then for as short a time as possible.
7 It is not to be opened at all to anyone who wishes to enter unless he has permission from the Holy Father or from our Cardinal.
8 Let the sisters not admit anyone into the monastery before sunrise, nor allow anyone to remain inside after sunset, unless an evident, just and unavoidable cause requires it.
9 If a bishop has permission to celebrate Mass inside the monastery, to bless the abbess, to consecrate a sister as a nun, or for some other reason, let him be content with as few companions and attendants of good reputation as possible.
10 If it becomes necessary to admit certain people into the monastery to do some work, let the abbess take care to place a suitable person at the door,
11 who will open it only to those workers and to no one else.
12 Let all the sisters take great care not to be seen by those who enter at such times.
Chapter 12. The visitator, the chaplain, the Cardinal Protector
1 Our visitator is always to be from the Order of Friars Minor, according to the will and command of our Cardinal.
2 He should be a man whose blameless life is well known.
3 His duty will be to correct the faults against our profession committed by the head as well as by the members.
4 In a place open to all, where he can be seen by others, he may speak with groups of sisters or with individual sisters about matters concerning the visitation, as he sees fit.
5 Likewise, for a chaplain with a clerical companion, prudent and of good reputation, and for two lay brothers of holy life and integrity,
6 to help us in our poverty, as we have always had help from the Order of Friars Minor.
7 We ask this as a grace from that Order, for the love of God and of Saint Francis.
8 The chaplain may not enter the monastery without a companion.
9 And when they enter, let them stay in an open place, so that each can always see the other and others can see them.
10 They may enter to hear the confessions of the sick who cannot come to the parlour, to give them Holy Communion and the Last Anointing, and to pray with the dying.
11 For the funeral rites and the solemn Requiem Mass, and to dig, open or close the grave, a sufficient number of suitable people may enter, as the abbess sees fit.
12 Furthermore, the sisters are strictly bound always to have as their governor, protector and guardian of discipline that Cardinal of the holy Roman Church whom the Pope appoints for the Friars Minor,
13 so that, always subject and submissive at the feet of that holy Church and steadfast in the Catholic faith (cf. Col 1:23), we may always observe the poverty and humility of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His most holy Mother, and the holy Gospel, as we have firmly promised. Amen.
Conclusion of the bull: Given at Perugia, on 16 September, in the tenth year of the pontificate of the Holy Father Innocent IV.
No one is permitted to infringe this charter of our approval or rashly oppose it. Whoever dares to do so, let him know that he will incur the displeasure of Almighty God and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
Given at Assisi, on 9 August, in the eleventh year of our pontificate.
Translated from the Polish edition of the writings of St. Clare.