Living with a large number of women who are not kin is its own call to penance. While the major impression of the San Damiano community is one of concord, joyful obedience, and humility, the opposite vices were not unknown. Clare writes that the sisters must beware of “pride, vainglory, envy, avarice, care and anxiety about this world, detraction and murmuring, dissension and division” (Rule 10:6 [19]). This is a sobering litany of faults capable of destroying a community from inside. What experiences showed her the need for such an admonition? What reports from other monasteries might have confirmed the need for that warning? We should not imagine the forty years in San Damiano to have been devoid of such suffering. These were real flesh and blood women… Yet Clare exhibited an inner joy in all circumstances. This demeanor added to the awe of her companions and became part of their endless admiration. This “peace surpassing understanding” drew them daily into her orbit of sisterly solidarity.
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