Chapter twenty-five of Matthew's Gospel begins with the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins.
The former procure the oil for the lamp while waiting for the Bridegroom and the latter do not think of having it, cutting themselves off from the wedding feast.
In the Sources, the thought runs to the virgin Clare, who bore inscribed in her name her personal figure and mission.
Both in the Process of canonisation and in the Papal Bull proclaiming her sanctity, Clare of Assisi appears concretely as a wise and vigilant virgin, the one of whom the Gospel speaks.
In the Sources:
"This was the lofty candelabrum of holiness, which shines brightly in the tabernacle of the Lord: to whose great splendour many flocked, attracted, and still do, to light their lamps by that light.
This one, indeed, planted in the field of faith and cultivated the vineyard of poverty, from which we reap bountiful and copious fruits of salvation.
This one, in the territory of the Church, cultivated the garden of humility, adorned with every kind of poverty, in which every virtue flourishes in abundance' (Bull of canonisation, Clara Claris praeclara, FF 3295).
And again:
"Assiduous also in her vigils and intent on prayer, in this above all she spent the greater part of the day and night" (FF 3300).
And, wonderfully, in her Blessing, Clare addresses her present and future sisters:
"Always be lovers of God and of your souls and of all your sisters, and always be solicitous to observe what you have promised the Lord" (FF 2857).
She was truly the virgin who never lacked the oil of Love and vigilant Faith.
Clare, through her luminous life, showed everyone the linear and generous, prudent and attentive path of the virgin who awaits the Bridegroom with the lamp lit day and night, always prepared to welcome the Lord.
"Behold the Bridegroom! Come out and meet him!" (Mt 25:6).
Friday of the 21st wk. in O.T. (Mt 25,1-13)
