In this special In Conversation episode, Bruce and Kris McGregor speak with Sr. Joan Mueller, a scholar of systematic theology and Christian spirituality at Creighton University, about the life and witness of St. Clare of Assisi. Drawing from her work on Clare, the early Franciscan movement, and Clare’s letters to St. Agnes of Prague, Sr. Joan presents Clare as a woman of extraordinary courage, intelligence, tenderness, and spiritual clarity. Born into nobility in the violent and unstable world of the thirteenth century, Clare rejected the security, status, and arranged future expected of her and embraced the radical poverty of the Gospel. Her decision to leave her family, receive the cutting of her hair from St. Francis, and take refuge in religious life was not romantic idealism, but a profound act of freedom and fidelity to Christ.
The conversation explores the Franciscan charism of poverty, the essential partnership between Francis and Clare, and Clare’s lifelong struggle to preserve what she called the “privilege of poverty.” Sr. Joan explains how Clare’s monastery at San Damiano was not an escape from the world, but a place of prayer, healing, counsel, and hospitality for the poor who lived around it. Through her poverty, Clare became free to serve, free to pray, and free to love with remarkable gentleness. Her life reveals that Franciscan poverty is not emptiness, but a gift that continues to give. This episode offers a moving portrait of St. Clare as a contemplative woman whose love for Christ became concrete care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable.
In her writings on St. Clare of Assisi, including Clare of Assisi: The Letters to Agnes and Clare’s Letters to Agnes, Sr. Joan Mueller helps readers enter the world of early Franciscan spirituality through Clare’s own voice and relationships. These works illuminate Clare’s deep commitment to poverty, contemplation, ecclesial fidelity, and the feminine expression of Franciscan life.
Through Clare’s correspondence with St. Agnes of Prague, readers encounter two noble women who renounced power and wealth to follow Christ in poverty. Their friendship and spiritual partnership reveal the depth of Clare’s wisdom, her courage in negotiating with Church authority, and her determination to protect the charism entrusted to her. These letters remain a powerful window into the heart of Franciscan spirituality and the radical freedom of a life wholly given to God.
Discerning Hearts Reflection Question1. How does St. Clare’s courage challenge me to follow Christ more freely, even when His call disrupts my expectations? 2. What attachments to comfort, security, or reputation might the Lord be inviting me to surrender? 3. How does Clare’s embrace of poverty reveal a deeper freedom to love, serve, and pray? 4. In what ways do I separate contemplation from love of the poor, and how might Clare help me hold them together? 5. How does the partnership between St. Francis and St. Clare deepen my understanding of the shared mission of men and women in the Church? 6. Where do I see the “privilege of poverty” at work in my own life, not as deprivation, but as trust in God? 7. How can my home, parish, or community become a place of prayer, counsel, healing, and hospitality for those in need? 8. What does Clare’s friendship with St. Agnes of Prague teach me about spiritual friendship and mutual encouragement in holiness? 9. How does Clare’s life invite me to greater tenderness toward the sick, the poor, and those who are mentally or emotionally burdened? 10. What is one concrete way I can live more simply this week to love Christ and others more generously?
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