Letter of St. Clare of Assisi to St. Agnes of Prague

[Shin]

To the venerable and most holy virgin, the Lady Agnes, daughter of the most renowned and illustrious king of Bohemia, Clare, unworthy servant of Jesus Christ and useless handmaid of the enclosed ladies of the Monastery of San Damiano, her subject and handmaid in all circumstances, commends herself in every way and sends, with special respect, the prayer that Agnes attain the glory of everlasting happiness.

Hearing the account, one that brings you the highest honor, of your holy conversion and manner of life, an account that has been reputably disseminated not only to me but to nearly every region of the world, I rejoice and exalt exceedingly in the Lord. Concerning this news, I am not the only one able to rejoice, but also all those who serve and desire to serve Jesus Christ.

I rejoice because you, more than others, could have enjoyed public ostentation, honors, and worldly status having had the opportunity to become, with eminent glory, legitimately married to the illustrious emperor, as would befit your and his pre-eminence. Spurning all these things with your whole heart and mind, you have chosen instead holiest poverty and physical want, accepting a nobler spouse, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will keep your virginity always immaculate and inviolate.

Having loved him, you are chaste;
having touched him, you will be made
more pure;
having received him, you are a virgin.

His power is stronger,
his nobility higher,
his appearance lovelier,
his love sweeter,
and his every grace more elegant.

You are now held fast in the embraces of the one who has adorned your breast with precious stones and has hung priceless pearls from your ears.

He has completely surrounded you with glittering and sparkling gems, and has placed on your head a golden crown engraved with the seal of holiness.

Therefore, dearest sister-or should I say, most venerable lady, because you are spouse and mother and sister of my Lord Jesus Christ, and are most resplendently distinguished by the banner of inviolable virginity and holiest poverty-be strengthened in the holy service begun in you out of a burning desire for the Poor Crucified. For all of us he endured the passion of the cross, rescuing us from the power of the prince of darkness-by whose power we were kept in chains because of the transgression of our first parent-and reconciling us to God the Father.

O blessed poverty
that provides eternal riches to those who
love and embrace it!

O holy poverty,
to those who possess and desire it, God
promises the kingdom of heaven and, of
course, gives eternal glory and a happy life!

O pious poverty
that the Lord Jesus Christ, who ruled and is
ruling heaven and earth, and who spoke and
all things were made, deigned to embrace
before anything else!

For foxes have dens, he says, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man, who is Christ, has nowhere to lay his head; instead, bowing his head, he handed over his spirit.

If, then, so great as such a Lord who, coming into the virgin's womb, chose to appear contemptible, needy, and poor in this world so that human beings, who were utterly poor and needy, suffering from an extremely grave lack of heavenly food, might be made rich in him by means of the kingdom of heaven that they will indeed possess, exalt exceedingly and rejoice, filled with great joy and spiritual happiness. Because-since contempt of the world has pleased you more than its honors; poverty more than temporal riches; and storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth where neither rust consumes them, nor moth destroys them, and thieves do not dig them up and steal them-your most abundant reward is in heaven, and you have quite fittingly deserved to be called sister, spouse, and mother of the Son of the most high Father and glorious Virgin.

For, I am sure that you know that the kingdom of heaven is promised and given by the Lord only to the poor, because as long as something temporal is the object of love, the fruit of charity is lost. You know, too, that one cannot serve God and material wealth, since either the one is loved and the other hated, or a person will serve one and despise the other. You also know that a person wearing clothing cannot fight with another who is naked, because the one who has something that might be grasped is more quickly thrown to the ground. You know, too, that it is not possible for a person to remain glorious in the world and to reign with Christ in heaven; and that a camel will be able to pass through the eye of a needle before a rich person ascends into the kingdom of heaven. These are the reasons why you disposed of your clothing, I mean your wordly wealth, so that you might have the strength not to succumb completely to the one struggling against you, so that you may enter the kingdom of heaven by the narrow road and constricted gate.

It is indeed a great and praiseworthy exchange:
to give up the temporal for the everlasting,
to merit the heavenly rather than the earthly,
to receive a hundredfold instead of one,
to have a happy, eternal life.

I thought, therefore, that I should do all I can to implore Your Excellency and Holiness with humble prayers in the innermost heart of Christ, given that you want to be strengthened in his holy service, growing from good to better, from virtue to virtue, so that the one to whose service you devote yourself with every desire of your mind may deign to bestow freely upon you the rewards you have desired.

I also beseech you in the Lord, as best as I can, to be so kind as to include in your most holy prayers me, your servant, although useless, and the other sisters who are devoted to you who live with me in the monastery. By the help of your prayers, may we be able to merit the mercy of Jesus Christ so that we, together with you, may deserve to enjoy the everlasting vision.

Farewell in the Lord and please pray for me.