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St. Clare of Assisi

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (July 16, 1194-August 11, 1253)
    Born in Assisi, Italy
    Birth name was Chiara Offreduccio
    Founded the Order of Poor Ladies
    Renamed in her honor as the Order of St. Clare, often referred to as the Poor Clares
    Canonized by Pope Alexander IV (1255)

Why she might be annoying:

    She ran away from home to follow St. Francis of Assisi.
    Francis shaved her head into a monk's tonsure and dressed her in a brown friar's cloak.
    Several popes tried to get her to modify the strict rules of her order, on the theory that owning nothing and subsisting on alms may be alright for men, like the Franciscans, but it was a bit much for women.
    Sometimes, she would go days without food unless the Bishop of Assisi ordered her to eat.
    She was one of the candidates to be named patron saint of the internet, but lost out to St. Isidore of Seville.

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her mother, two sisters and an aunt joined her order.
    She cared for St. Francis during his final illness.
    When the army of Emperor Frederick II was about to attack Assisi, she rose from her sickbed, knelt in prayer at an open window and displayed the Sacrament, at which point the soldiers fell back (1234).
    She said of critics of her order's austerity, 'They say we are too poor, but can a heart that possesses the infinite God be truly called poor?'
    She was canonized rapidly, only two years and a month after her death.
    Pope Pius XII named her the patron saint of television (1958), because when she had been too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the cloister wall.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 299 Votes: 39.46% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 35.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 100 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 88 Votes: 48.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying