dead. She entreated the relations to retire and to leave her in her
care, which they regrettingly did. Agnes then rose with great ease,
glad to have had a share in the cross of Jesus Christ. She returned
to the monastery with her sister, to consecrate herself to God under
the direction of Francis, who cut off her hair with his own hands, and
instructed her in the duties of the state she was about to enter.
Clare, not having her mind quite at ease in the Monastery of St. Angelo,
removed to the house which adjoined the Church of St. Damian, the first
of the three which he had repaired, and where he had foretold that
there would be one day a monastery of poor females, who should lead
a sanctified life, and whose reputation would cause our Heavenly Father
to be glorified.

Clare had scarcely fixed herself there, when the fame of her sanctity
spread all around, and produced wonderful effects. The influence of
grace was so great, that there were many persons of all sexes and all
ages, of all states of life, nobles and rich, who took to a religious
life. They mutually incited each other in families, as St. Jerome tells
us that it occurred in all Africa, when the illustrious virgin,
Demetrias, moved by the exhortation of St. Augustine, took the holy
veil. It was even seen that married persons separated by mutual consent,
and entered separate convents: and those who could not do this, strove
to sanctify themselves in the world. The virtues of the holy spouse
of Jesus Christ, as a precious perfume, attracted pure and innocent
souls, who made the house of St. Damian a numerous community, and the
cradle of the Order of the Poor Clares, or Poor Ladies, the second of
the three orders which were established by St. Francis. He appointed
Clare Abbess of St. Damian, although her humility made her wish to be
the servant of the others, and he only overcame her repugnance by
enforcing that obedience which she had promised him.