St. Clare
Clare of Assisi, born July 16, 1194, was a daughter of a count and countess is Italy. As a teenager, she heard St. Francis preach int eh streets of Assisi and confided to him her desire to live for God. On Palm Sunday 1212 the bishop presenter her with a palm, which she apparently took as a sign. Clare andher cousing ran away and soon took the veil of religions profession form Francis at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi.
She founded the Order of Poor Ladies (later to become the Poor Clares) at San Damiano, and led it for 40 years. Eventually Clare’s mother and sisters joined the order that established a likfe of good deeds, prayer and silence.
Clare loved music and well-composed sermons. She was humble, merciful and charming, optimistic and chivalrous. She would get up late at night to tuck in her sisters who kicked their covers off at night. And once when her abby was being attacked by soldiers, she grabbed the monstrance (container) holding the consecrated Sacrament, and waved it out the top window of the abby. Soldiers approaching the window by ladder fell to the ground and when she met the soldiers at the gates, they fled, amazed at her courage.
At the end of her life, when she was too ill to attend Mass, she was said to have seen a moving image of the service on the wall of her room, thus, her patronage is of television!