Exhortation to St. Clare and Her Sisters

by Francis of Assisi

English version by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM CAP & Ignatius C. Brady, OFM
Original Language Italian

Listen, little poor ones called by the Lord,
     who have come together from many parts and provinces:
Live always in truth,
     that you may die in obedience.
Do not look at the life outside,
     for that of the Spirit is better.
I beg you through great love,
     to use with discretion
     the alms which the Lord gives you.
Those who are weighed down by sickness
     and the others who are wearied because of them,
     all of you: bear it in peace.
For you will sell this fatigue at a very high price
     and each one of you will be crowned queen
     in heaven with the Virgin Mary.

-- from Francis and Clare: The Complete Works: The Classics of Western Spirituality, Translated by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM CAP / Translated by Ignatius C. Brady, OFM

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Exhortation to St