Ave Maria!
Her Life
St Clare lived in Assisi between 1193-1253. At age 19, she ran away from home and, under the direction of St Francis, she started the Poor Clares using Francis’ 2nd Rule. She gathered many spiritual daughters around her as her order grew. Her life was marked by meditation, prayer, and the faithful following of the three religious vows: poverty, chastity and obedience.
Imitation of Our Lady
St. Clare was a perfect imitator of Our Lady, who lived a quiet life of poverty in Nazareth as a chaste virgin and obediently followed the will of God in accepting His call to be the Mother of God. By being the Mother of Jesus, she too gathered to Herself many daughters and sons, that is, all the brothers of Her Son. Thus, both Mary and Clare became rich in their poverty, fruitful in their virginity, and honored in their obedience.
Consecration to Mary
St. Clare’s imitation of Mary is a marvelous foreshadowing of the spirituality of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, who take a fourth vow of consecration to The Immaculate. In practice, this 4th vow really becomes a first vow because it is by means of this consecration to Her that we become instruments in Her hands and thus are able to faithfully fulfill the other three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience just as She did.
Patroness of TV
One Christmas Eve, Clare was so sick that she could not get out of bed even to go to mass. While the other sisters were on their way to mass, she lay in her bed, sighing, “See Lord, I am left here alone with You.” Just then, the Lord granted her a miraculous vision to be able see the Mass from afar, as if it were taking place right in her own bedroom. In 1958, when Pope Pius XII was trying to find a saint to give as patron for the marvelous new invention of TV, he recalled this incident in the life of Clare. Since “television” is Greek for “vision from afar”, Clare was chosen as its patroness.
Misuse of TV
Unfortunately, in regard to content, Modern TV is the total opposite of what Clare saw in her vision from afar. Instead of Holy Sacrifice for the removal of sin, TV wholly promotes sin and self-indulgence through indecent content. Instead of holy poverty to gain spiritual riches, TV promotes mass consumption and greed, making us poor financially and spiritually. And instead of the fruitfulness of holy virginity, TV promotes the unfruitful fornication and lust of contraception, abortion, homosexuality and other perversions. Instead of Holy Obedience, TV glamorizes disobedience, even the disobedience of children toward their parents.
Dedication of Air Maria to St. Clare
Since we Franciscans of the Immaculate are starting our TV website as an antidote to these many modern plagues, we dedicate it to St. Clare. May she give us the grace to be good imitators of Mary and so proceed with zeal, prudence, and charity that we may give glory to God and serve our fellow men by bringing them closer to God through the Immaculate.
In honor of Patrick Wroe
As Our Lord often has it, good things come from great tragedies. This is the case with our dedication of Air Maria to St. Clare. The obvious thought of dedicating our new TV Internet site to St. Clare, Patroness of TV, did not even occur to us until Dave Wroe suggested it at the very funeral of his son, Patrick. Dave has been very instrumental in getting Air Maria started. St. Clare had answered many prayers for Dave in the past in regard to Patrick and helped Dave and his family cope with the loss of his son. And so we dedicate Air Maria to St. Clare in honor of Patrick Wroe.
Holy Mother St. Clare, Patroness of TV, pray for us!
Holy Mother of God, pray for us!
Ave Maria!