Skullduggery in the Darkness
Something furtive was afoot. On the night of March 20, 1212, a shadowy figure worked feverishly but silently to clear rubble from in front of a little-used gate of a mansion in Assisi, Italy. She shifted beams, broken columns, and other debris from the exit, known as the "gate of death" because it was used by the family only to bear the dead out to their final resting place.

The task would have been fitting for slaves, but it was evident the worker was no slave. Gold threads in her dress caught the pale moonlight. Pearls glinted in her hair and were echoed by pallid gleams from her jeweled bodice. If a slave had stolen such finery, she would conceal it in a bundle until safely off the premises.

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For the sake of love, women have moved mountains. Was this secret labor the prelude to an elopement? The gate creaked open. Shadowy figures appeared on the street. There was a whispered exchange, and the girl squeezed through the crack in the gate to join them.

The Plot Thickens
The three figures hurried forward. All were women. Ahead of them men in the cowls of the poor detached themselves from thicker shadows. Their words showed that these were no brigands. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

The jeweled girl replied as if giving a countersign, repeating the next fine of Mary's famous Magnificat: "Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid."

Torches were lifted. in their flickering glare, the men arranged themselves protectively around the ladies and they proceeded together toward their clandestine goal.

Assisi's Rogue Saint
The path of their flight dipped down to the plain. By now anyone in Assisi might have suspected where the torches were headed: the Portiuncula.

Six years before, an astonishing event had taken place. Giovanni di Pietro Bernardone, commonly called Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant had behaved madly, stripping naked in church so as to return his clothes to his merchant father, symbolizing his renunciation of his parent's wealth. He began begging stones to repair a ruined church. As the work of restoration progressed, he meditated much, washed lepers' sores, sought to follow Christ completely and began to preach repentance and peace. Rich young men renounced their wealth and gathered around him, forming a brotherhood. The brothers settled at a small church of Assisi, the Portiuncula

It was to Francis that the young woman was going. He welcomed the gaily garbed girl.

Wealth to Flaunt, but She Wanted Christ
She was Clare, daughter of Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso of the noble family Offreduccios. She had wealth to flaunt. In fact, just that morning, Palm Sunday, Clare had attended church dressed like a princess. Had she seemed somewhat preoccupied? When the other girls went forward to accept their palm leaves, she remained seated. The bishop had to bring her leaf down to the absent-minded girl.

Young men looked on and wondered, while poorer girls envied. Clare's beauty, wealth and virtue had made her a prize to be pursued, but she rejected all suitors.

Now, like Francis, whom she had often heard preach, she was planning to renounce her wealth in a desire to serve Christ who had become poor for our sakes. Francis encouraged her plan and arranged for his cowled brothers to escort her through the night.