15/08/2026
The power of female sanctity in the face of male clerical power
(Feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi - 11 August)
“Around AD 1455 in Siena, Tuscany, the painter Giovanni di Paolo created a small panel titled “St Clare of Assisi blessing the bread before Pope Innocent IV” (Yale Bulletin and Calendar). He represented a well known story which has Clare ask the pope on the occasion of his visit to her community to bless bread. According to the story in the Fioretti Innocent IV insisted that Clare herself bless the bread. As she did so, miraculously, the sign of the cross appeared on the bread.
The painter depicts a woman with her right hand authoritatively stretched out in priestly blessing over the three small round loaves on the table. The miraculously transformed bread with the cross now imprinted resembles the large Eucharistic hosts reserved for priests. The painting frames these three host-like breads: on the right stands the pope, bowing both to the blessed bread and to Clare, with the remainder of that side filled with the papal entourage who exude power.
The left side of the painting is filled with Clare, alone, with the bread she has transformed. Her hand is outstretched in blessing over the bread. Clare’s head is surrounded by a large halo.The pope, on the other side wears his tiara and the cardinals their red hats.The painter has chosen to display the power of female sanctity in the face of male clerical power and God’s authentication of this female power over bread, to which a pope can only bow.” ( from Gender Differences And The Making Of Liturgical History by Teresa Berger).
There is a large fresco representing that same event on the wall of the convent refectory in San Damiano, where it actually happened. In that painting the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is also present….a strong reminder of the epiclesis during the Eucharist. For some strange reason that fresco is normally kept hidden from sight to the general public, with no reproductions available. When queried as to why this invisibility, the reply from the Poor Clare sister in charge was: It is not yet time. Eight centuries later!…
Soline Humbert
