Saint Clare of Assisi

Chiara Offreduccio, known as Clare of Assisi, was an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. Inspired by the teachings of St. Francis, she founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan traditionSt. Clare was designated as the patron saint of television in 1958 by Pope Pius XII,because when St. Clare was very ill, she could not attend mass and was reportedly able to see and hear it on the wall in her room. She is also the patroness of eye disease, goldsmiths, and laundry. Clare is often pictured carrying a monstrance or pyx, to commemorate the time she warded off the soldiers at the gates of her convent with the Blessed Sacrament. St. Clare's feast day is celebrated on August 11.