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Sister Benedetta,a then abbess, together with the other nuns of the monastery of San Damiano said with one accord, in the presence of the venerable Father, the Lord Bishop of Spoleto, 14that all that was found in the holiness of any other holy woman, except the Virgin Mary, could be truly said of and witnessed in Lady Clare of holy memory, their former abbess and most holy mother. 15And this could also be found and understood in her, in her life.
16Then all were prepared to take an oath, to speak, and to witness to this effect. 17She declared that they had seen her marvelous conversion, 18and during the times they had spent with her in that monastery had seen the holiness of her life and angelic manner of living, 19which they were totally unable to explain in human words.
THE SIXTEENTH WITNESS
1. 1On the same day, in the church of San Paolo in Assisi,b before the venerable Father, the Lord Bishop of Spoleto, as well as in the presence of Andreolo de Bartolo, Vianello del Benvenuto Lucchese, and some others, 2Lord Ugolino di Pietro Girardone, knight of Assisi, under oath, spoke of the life, conversion, manner of living, and miracles of Lady Clare of holy memory.c 3He said Saint Clare was of a very noble family of Assisi 4since Lord Offreduccio de Bernardino was her grandfather and Lord Favarone, the father of Saint Clare, was his son.
2. 5This Saint Clare was a virgin, of a very upright manner of life in her father's house, and was kind and gracious to everyone.
- Sister Benedetta, known before her entrance into San Damiano as Ginevra di Giorgio di Ugone di Tebalduccio, the abbess who succeeded Clare, belonged to one of the more powerful families of Assisi. Her name can be found among the list of sisters in San Damiano in 1238, cf. supra 111. She stayed in other monasteries to implant the practices of San Damiano in them and, as abbess, supervised the move to San Giorgio and building of the basilica dedicated to Clare. She died in 1260. Cf. Marino Bigaroni, H. R. Meier, Elvio Lunghi, La Basilica di S. Chiara in Assisi (Perugia: n.p., 1994).
- The tribunal left San Damiano on November 28, 1253, for the church of San Paolo in Assisi to hear the testimonies of the townspeople who knew St. Clare. San Paolo was built in 1071 by Aginaldo, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of San Benedetto on the slope of Monte Subasio. It was rebuilt in the thirteenth century and rededicated by Innocent IV in 1253.
- There is much documented evidence concerning Ugolino di Pietro Girardone who was an important citizen of Assisi and lived in the area of San Rufino as did St. Clare and her family. Cf. Arnaldo Fontini, Nova Vita II, 322-323.