her. 10However, if some counsel be required, let them send her to some discerning and God-fearing persons, according to whose advice her goods may be distributed to the poor.
11After her hair has been cut all arounda and her secular clothes set aside, she may be permitted three tunicsb and a mantle.c 12Thereafter, she may not go outside the monastery except for a useful, reasonable, evident, and justifiable purpose.d 13When the year of probation is ended, let her be received into obedience, promising to observe perpetually the life and form of our poverty.
14Let no one receive the veil during the period of probation.e 15The sisters may also have little mantles for convenience and propriety in serving and working.f 16In fact, let the abbess, with discernment,g provide them with clothing according to the diver- sity of persons, places, seasons, and cold climates, as in necessity she shall deem expedient.
17Young girls who are received into the monastery before the age established by law may have their hair cut all around; and, after putting aside their secular clothes, let them be clothed in
- This act of cutting off the hair was more symbolic of an embrace of penance rather than a ritual of consecration or initiation. As such it is reminiscent of Clare’s own acceptance of the Gospel life at the hands of Francis and his brothers, cf. LCl 8, infra. Background information may be found in Luigi Padovese, “La ‘tonsura’ di Chiara: gesto di consacrazione o segno di penitenza?” Laurentianum 31(1990): 389-404.
- In his letter, Quoniam frequenter, June 26, 1253, Rainaldo responded to a question concerning the number of tunics posed by some monasteries of the Order of Saint Damian: “We grant you permission to have three or more tunics, if necessity requires it.” His response was later incorporated into the papal document of Innocent IV, Haberi percepimus.
- Clare summarizes the prescriptions of the Form and Manner of Life of Hugolino. The form of tonsure and the veil signified religious consecration. The tunics, which could be worn simultaneously for warmth, signified penance.
- There is a marked difference between Clare’s norms for permission to leave the monastery and those of the previous prescriptions of Hugolino and Innocent IV. Clare’s balance between flexibility and acceptance of the monastic enclosure is a complex problem. Recent contributions to the literature on the subject include: Chiara Augusta Lainati, “The Enclosure of St. Clare and the First Poor Clares in Canonical Legislation and in Practice,” The Cord 28 (1978): 4-15, 47-60; Raoul Manselli, “La Chiesa e il francescanesimo femminile nel secolo XIII,” Movimento religioso femminile e francescanesimo nel secolo XIII: Atti del convegno internazionale di studi francescani (Assisi: Atti del Convegno, 1980), 239-261.
- This prescription also reflects a similar practice of the Dominican Nuns in this regard, cf. Consuetudines XV: “Before profession, the sisters may not be blessed; but after profession, when it seems expedient to the Master of the Order or to the Provincial Prior or his vicar and to the Prioress, they may be blessed by a bishop.” Curiously the Dominicans refer to the Solemn Blessing of those professed while Clare writes of the reception of the veil.
- Once again the directive of Rainaldo, Quoniam frequenter, later incorporated into that of Innocent IV, Haberi percepimus, influences this prescription of Clare:“…we grant you permission to have one uncluttered mantle and, if you wish for work, another short one.”
- The word discretio [discernment] and its derivative recurs in Clare writings. An examination of these texts reveals that one learns discernment from the Spirit of the Lord and that it is at once an enemy of the superfluous and the sister of charity. It understands the necessities of each sister. Cf. Benedicta Ward, “ A Rare Bird,” The Way Supplement 64 (Spring 1977): 10-18.
Regula [Clarae], Fontes Franciscani, p. 2294
10Et caveat abbatissa et eius sorores ne sollicitae sint de rebus suis temporalibus, ut libere faciat de rebus suis quicquid Dominus inspiraverit ei.
11Si tamen consilium requiratur, mittant eam ad aliquos discretos et Deum timentes, quorum consilio bona sua pauperibus erogentur. 12Postea capillis tonsis in rotundum et deposito habitu saeculari, concedat ei tres tunicas et mantellum. 13Deinceps extra monasterium. sine utili, rationabili, manifesta et probabili causa eidem exire non liceat.
14Finito vero anno probationis, recipiatur ad obedientiam, promittens vitam et formam paupertatis nostrae in perpetuum observare. 15Nulla infra tempus probationis veletur. 16Mantellulas etiam possint sorores habere pro alleviatione et honestate servitii et laboris.
17Abbatissa vero de vestimentis discrete eisdem provideat, secundum qualitates personarum et loca ei tempora et frigidas regiones, sicut necessitati viderit expedire.
