Granted that Francis considered the preachers of the Word to be the «lamp of the world» and that the Spirit of God made him so, marvellous is what we read in the Sources, an exalted collection of Franciscan realities.
"Irradiated by the splendours of eternal light, he scrutinised the depths of the Scriptures with a clear and acute intellect.
His intellect, pure from all stain, penetrated the secret of the mysteries, and where the science of masters is excluded, he entered with the affection of a lover.
He read, from time to time, the sacred books and kept tenaciously imprinted in his memory what he had once assimilated: for he continually ruminated with affectionate devotion what he had listened to with an attentive mind" (FF 1187).
Likewise Clare, seraphic little plant, is recognised in the
Legend as the one in whom "the merciful God [...] made a very bright lamp shine for women: and you, most blessed Father*, by ascribing her to the number of the Saints, prompted by the power and evidence of miracles, have placed this lamp on the candelabrum, so that it may give light to all those who are in the house" (FF 3151).
"So Clare, while she was alive, shone by the light of her merits: and now, that she is bathed in endless clarity, no less does she still shine, by the marvellous light of miracles, to the ends of the earth" (FF 3262).
It was a miracle to see her (when she lived within the Damianite walls exuding holiness):
"[...] for Matins, she would prevent the young girls and, waking them noiselessly with nods, she would invite them to the praises of God. Often, while they were all still asleep, she would light the lamps, often she herself would ring the bell with her hands" (FF 3200).
"Certainly, in his gentleness, God had given the poor girl a banquet and, after having flooded her soul in prayer with his eternal Light, he manifested it outside sensibly" (FF 3199).
«Does the lamp come to be put under the bushel or under the bed?» (Mk 4:21)
*St Clare's canonisation took place in Anagni by Pope Alexander IV on an unspecified date, varying between August, 26 September and 19 October 1255.
Thursday 3rd wk. in O.T. (Mk 4,21-25)
