Loving God,
your Son became poor that he might make many rich;
by the example of your servant Clare,
inspire in us a singleness of heart in your service,
so that we may love and care for those around us,
in humble obedience to Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Source of this collect/prayer: For All the Saints
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead Itself
through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel
as they taste the hidden sweetness
which God Himself has reserved
from the beginning
for those who love Him.
Saint Clare of Assisi
(July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253)
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Placing our mind, our mental consciousness, before the One who knows all – and being open to having that reflected back to us.
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Placing the essence of us in the transfiguring light, the resurrection light, the first light…
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
and through this – mind; soul; heart – the whole of us – we allow ourselves, through contemplation, to be transformed into the image of the Godhead – theosis; divinisation.
This is such a neglected teaching in Western Christianity. Yet it is what God has prepared for each one of us from the beginning.
Taught to us here by St Clare of Assisi, so often overshadowed by her friend, Francis. It is also past time to recover this strong woman – and her teaching – and to live into that.
Translation of Clare’s quote from Francis and Clare: The Complete Works by Francis of Assisi (Author), Clare of Assisi (Author), Regis J. Armstrong (Translator)
