What the story of St Clare doesn't tell...
In this poem, Alwyn Marriage suggests that St Clare (1194-1253) may be a rather more interesting figure than history suggests.
Clare Offreduccio (Chiara) was a normal, healthy and enthusiastic teenager until she was swept off her feet by the dashing young Francis, whom she heard preach with passion. Abandoning her previous life to follow him, she devoted herself to a life of chastity and charity. Images of St Clare in art tend to depict her as an icon of humble obedience and purity, but there may well be more to the story than that.
While not wishing to diminish Clare's genuine piety and good works at all, this story suggests that Clare's obvious love of St Francis was more full-blooded and passionate than the official stories have suggested, and that ending up in a convent was not quite what Clare had in mind.
(Please note: This is a poem, rather than a story)
Boy Beautiful;
Oh, my boy beautiful.
My study in brown
but no, not mine,
not then, and certainly
not now.
He caught religion
like the chickenpox;
I watched it spread
through all his being,
and willingly breathed his germs,
greedy to share his joy and suffering.