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The
Lord's Prayer in the The Our Father held a privileged place in the life of St. Clare. May this preview of our novena reflections, gleaned from our Seraphic Mother’s contemplative penetration into this fundamental Christian prayer, help all of us not only to PRAY as the Lord taught, but also to LIVE in the spirit of the Our Father. |
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The
First Day |
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Pattern of Life
and Prayer
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From her earliest days, St. Clare was a
“friend of the Our Father.” While
she has not written meditations on the prayer Jesus gave us, her life
resounds with unshakable confidence in the God who is the
Most High Heavenly Father. She
invites us to the same trust in our
Divine Benefactor, the Father
of mercies, from whom every good gift comes. |
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The
Second Day |
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Our Father Who Art in Heaven |
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It is the
glory of God that we should recognize Him as “Father.” (CATECHISM
2781) This is the height of
our Christian calling: to live as adopted children of the heavenly
Father. St. Clare
reminds us that to know God as our Father is both gift and
responsibility. Living this
gift in gratitude, we experience the freedom
of the children of God and know as she did that no
one is father as God is Father. (CATECHISM 239) |
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The
Third Day |
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| Hallowed be Thy Name! | ||
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St. Clare not only prayed to the heavenly Father: Hallowed be Thy Name! She also allowed Him to hollow out a place
within her so she might be filled with
the very holiness of God. In joy, sorrow, sickness or health, she,
like Mary, could pray: The
Almighty has done great things for me; Holy is His Name! |
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The
Fourth Day |
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| Thy Kingdom Come! | ||
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Hope and holy expectation are at the center of Clarian
spirituality. For St. Clare,
Thy Kingdom come! was more
than a loving invitation. It
was a call to respond to the demands of such a Kingdom. Bound up with
the mystery of the Kingdom’s coming is the mystery of growth, patience
and trusting surrender. St.
Clare invites us to believe and to hope, that we may be able see the
manifestations of this Kingdom and the nearness of its King around us
and within us. |
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The
Fifth Day |
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| Thy Will be Done! | ||
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The third petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a summons to enter
into the mystery of redemptive obedience.
St. Clare did this with a generous faith that made her religious
life a powerhouse of grace for the Church and the world.
She accompanies us as we make this prayer, knowing that in His
Will is our peace. |
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The
Sixth Day |
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| Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread! | ||
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Our Lord said: Your Father in heaven knows what you need.
St. Clare took Him at His Word.
For her, this petition was the humble cry of someone who depended
on God for everything. The
“bread” for which she prayed was to fill every spiritual and
material hunger. Ultimately it is her cry for the Eucharist, the Bread
of Life for which we long and by which we live. |
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The
Seventh Day |
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| And Forgive Us... As We Forgive | ||
| This petition, notes the Catechism, is astonishing. It is also daring, demanding and challenging.
St. Clare of |
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| The
Eighth Day August 9 |
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| Lead Us Not! Deliver Us! | ||
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St. Clare used the weapons of prayer and humility to combat
temptation. She knew it is
by God’s grace alone that the soul remains steadfast in the face of
temptation and that only He can deliver us from evil, be it from within
or without. The God who is
Love conquered in her – and invites us to rely on Him to conquer in
us. |
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| The
Ninth Day August 10 |
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| Amen! | ||
| To believe is
to say “Amen” to God’s words, promises and commandments; to
entrust oneself completely to Him who is the “Amen” of infinite love
and perfect faithfulness. (CATECHISM 1064)
In life and in death, St. Clare knew she would not pronounce her
“Amen” alone. Christ
Jesus Himself would take up and
complete (her) “Amen” to the Father. “For all the promises of God
find their ‘Yes’ in Him. That
is why we utter the ‘Amen’ through Christ, to the glory of God.” (CATECHISM
1065; 2 Cor. 1:20) |
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