Clare Of Assisi Analysis

Her father James, who was a successful businessman who had acquired considerable real estate and was a practising catholic and man of deep faith passed away when she was very young. However his strong faith servilely impacted her. His inspiring example lead Catherine to persist being a Catholic her entire life. Which meant going against all the pressures and resisting or the criticism. Catherine 's mother lacked her husbands depth of faith and was much more interested in her social status within Dublin society than her religion. It was her father who provided her with the first model of service to the poor through his involvement with those in his own community. The second death of her parent forced into becoming independant, and growing up much quicker then she would have hoped. However again this has shaped the way Catherine was, and built her strong and caring character. Looking for god in this instance help Catherine gain strength to carry on to inspire and help others along the way. “Do not put your trust in any human being, but place all your confidence in God.”(Catherine McAuley 49). Catherine was influence by religion from a very young age, which has shown significantly throughout her life. Her fathers presence in her life at a young age was still so impactful that she carried out his religion and pushed through all other temptations to convert.

As the tenth century rolled about, the power of the Roman Catholic Church grew steadily stronger, the church had an argument with the normal Kingdom over who should rule supreme out of the Pope or the King, the church believed that the Pope who is the voice of God on Earth should be the ruler of the world while the peasants thought that the King should, the power struggle eventually ended with the Church coming out as the dominant force in the West. The Church passed a law that stated that everyone (mostly peasants) is forced to pay 10% of their income to the Church. The church had the ability to stop any laws that they did not like or make some new laws that benefited them, they were a very powerful group that could manipulate the peasants and knights in any way they liked, in Church there were photos of people being tortured in hell, this intensified the peoples longing for heaven and therefore extended the power and influence of the church. All Christians were expected to attend the mass and, by the 13th century, were expected to take the Eucharist at least once a year.

In the early stages of Catherine's life the surfacing modern age was bringing with it social turmoil which spread throughout Europe (Giordani 3). During Catherine's lifetime, according to Mary Ann Sullivan in her essay “St. Catherine of Siena,” the center of Catholic rule

Poor treatment toward the lower class, depicts classism. The poor were stripped of what little money they had, from the upper class. Such is supported by document 1, where it states, "Why does not the Pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of

Luxury played an immense role in medieval Catholicism by taking the focus from God and placing it on the acquisition of riches and glory, which is shown by these sources: The Apology by Bernard of Clairvaux, The Book of Suger by The Abbot Suger and Guilty Pleasures: Luxury in the Middle Ages. These sources demonstrate the exorbitant manner that the churches and monasteries were being built in during that time. This not only drew attention away from the real reason for these buildings, but also was a form of idolatry for these monks, despite the honest intentions of some of them, including the Abbot Suger. Each source lends different insight into the corruption of the church during this medieval period.

Life in Europe during the 1500’s and 1600’s was full of reformation, wars of religion, and exploration of new places and ideas. The poor were greatly affected during this time. They were part of the church reformation when Martin Luther separated from Catholic Christendom and created his own church. In religious wars, like the Thirty Years’ War, the poor were usually the people fighting which had a tremendous impact on their lives and families. With the growth of exploration, the poor moved around which affected their community. The attitudes and responses towards the poor in Europe between 1450 and 1700 included that they were undeserving and lazy; they needed help, should be put to work, and should be given help.

Corruption was visible within the church and people were not pleased about it. Europeans became more secular and they started to question the church, and its authority. Therefore, all its teachings were also being questioned. Since people were no longer listening to the church they began to look at life and the world around them differently. For example, in the Netherlands the poor was looked down upon. Poor men would steal, poor women would turn to prostitution for a way to make money, and older women were accused of being witches. (Doc 1) It is no surprise that the poor started to be seen in a negative light after the church lost its influence over most of the people. All of these occupations were looked down upon especially, witches. During the witch craze hysteria in Europe thousands of women were killed because of accusations of them being witches. The main target however, were old poor women. Furthermore, the poor were not only criticized by other common people, rulers had their own views on the poor in their kingdoms. Emperor Charles V of the Netherlands felt that people would begin to abuse the aid given to the poor. According to Emperor Charles V, “Experience shows that if begging for alms is permitted to everyone indiscriminately, many errors and abuses will result, for they will fall into idleness, which is the beginning of all evils.” (Doc 2) The

From childhood Mary always helped and supported the poor and the most needy. She was motivated to help others from a very young age. She had a strong passion to help others especially the poor and less fortunate. Mary believed that education was important and that the young ones could use their talents to bring a better future for themselves and also for the society. She wanted to provide education to all the poor and unfortunate children. So she started a school inspired by Fr. Woods at Penola. She started a teaching in a stable. At first she got 50 young women but the numbers grew as the school was renowned. She faced a lot of challenges throughout her spiritual years, but she nothing stopped her from helping the poor. In 1871, Mary was excommunicated along with 47 other sisters from the Catholic Church by Bishop Sheil for helping the needy. 5 months later when Bishop Sheil was on his deathbed, realised that excommunicating Mary was a mistake and abolished the excommunication. Mary had a very strong belief in God which helped her to keep moving forward with strength and

Throughout history people have made a name for themselves by their actions. From Napoleon to Amelia Earhart, individuals have been recognized through their accomplishments. The faithful Joan of Arc has done the same. Joan broke through the boundaries for women of her time and, consequently, is one of the most famous young women in history. This statement is profoundly accurate because she was such a young girl with an extremely powerful devotion to God. But just how did Joan’s intense dedication to God influence her brief life?

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as St. Francis of Assisi (Assisi, July 5, 1182 1 - October 3, 1226), was a Catholic friar from Italy. After a restless and worldly youth, turned to a religious life of complete poverty, founding a mendicant Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans, who renewed Catholicism of his time. With the habit of itinerant preaching, when the religious of his time used to set up in monasteries, and with his belief that the Gospel should be strictly followed, imitating the life of Christ, developed a deep identification with the problems of our fellows and humanity of Christ himself. His attitude was also said when the original goodness and wonder of creation at a time when the world was

St. Catherine was born in Sienna, Italy on March 25, 1347. She had 24 siblings, but most of them didn’t make it past childhood. Catherine’s sister died when she was 16. An idea by her parents came up about Catherine marrying her sister’s husband. She rejected the idea and began to fast and make herself look bad because it made her so mad. From this, she became more religious, but did not want to join a convent. Instead, she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, which allowed her to become part of a religious group while still living at home with her family. Catherine’s family continually criticized her for giving away things without asking, but she put up with their complaints and kept giving to the poor. Giving to the poor was what she

St Brigid of Kildare was born in 452 AD. She was a catholic nun who became one of the patron saints of Ireland. She dedicated her whole life to following Jesus’s message; which was to love god, and love others. She shared this as her own message, through the love and support she gave to others in the community. Like Jesus she wanted to help the less fortunate and give to those that were in need, offering them hope and faith. She chose to seek out justice among her community and society, working around the lives of many. She was inspired by Jesus spirituality, nature and love, that she wanted to demonstration her appreciation and strength to those who were struggling. For example, she used her middle-class lifestyle to contribute to feeding the poor and nursing those who were injured or sick. Her childhood was filled with donating her mothers and father’s possessions to anyone who asked (Online, n.d.).

Isabelle Romee was said to have told and helped her daughter understand the Christian faith, as Joan of Arc - Maid of Heaven states, Joan once quoted: “My mother taught me the Pater Noster (Our Father), Ave Maria, and the Credo. Nobody taught me my belief, if not my mother.”

In the 1400s, Europe had been left in devastation from the aftermath of the black plague. This had left Europe in major religious, social and economic upheavals. Orphans, theft, intoxication, prostitution, brutality and misuse of powerful by important figures were very common. Education was unavailable to anyone without enough money to pay for it, creating an extremely large gap and social division between the classes. Church services and the bible were spoken and written in Latin, resulting in the majority of the common people being unable to understand the true meaning behind the words. As People were unable to read the bible, the only way to connect with God was through church services. Priests and Monks had several different jobs and often refused to help peasants when they asked for it, generating mistrust between the clergy and lay people.

St. Clare of Assisi was born on July 16, 1194 and died on August 11, 1253. Clare lived in Assisi Italy her whole life and was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She was the oldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, who was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi and a castle.