Saint Clare
Prayer for the Morning
To the Lord,
let us lift up our hearts in prayer!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!
HYMN
Gifted with the true Light,
Beauty is Clare’s life:
Duty and delight to
Mirror all God’s love.
Beauty in her dear soul—
Deep serenity;
Poverty of life told
Riches of God’s love.
Beauty with her Sisters,
Clare’s compassiòn,
Passion to insist a
Path for all to love.
Following Saint Francis,
Clare marks out a way:
Pay your love to Jesus—
God surrounds with love.
PSALM 73:23-26, 28
You know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)
Saint Clare embraced wholeheartedly Saint Francis’ joyful love for poverty as a means of entering into profound communion with Christ crucified. Her nuns, the Poor Clares, are renowned for the penitential austerity of their lives and the joy of their spirits.
I was always in your presence;
you were holding me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel
and so you will lead me to glory.
What else have I in heaven but you?
Apart from you I want nothing on earth.
My body and my heart faint for joy;
God is my possession for ever.
To be near God is my happiness.
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
I will tell of all your works
at the gates of the city of Zion.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Philippians 3:7-10)
Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and [the] sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death.
I love you, Lord, my strength!
(Ps 18:2)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
In a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. (2 Cor 8:2)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father…
INTERCESSIONS
With Saint Clare, we pray:
R/Our hope is in you, O Lord.
For all Poor Clare nuns:
– that they may live in joyful fidelity to the heritage of Saint Clare. R/
For all members of the Catholic Worker Movement:
– that they may bear witness to the joy of living among the poor for the sake of the Gospel. R/
For all who suffer deprivation and want:
– that they may discover in their pain the presence of Christ crucified. R/
For all who lead a life of penance:
– that their purity of heart may shine as a light for all around them. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Loving and merciful Father, who grant favors to all who seek you, through the intercession of the virgin Saint Clare may we draw ever closer to you in poverty of spirit and joy of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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