St. Clare of Assisi died on August 11, 1253. Pope Innocent IV entrusted Bishop Bartholomew of Spoleto with the responsibility of promoting the cause of her canonization. Three months later, on November 24, 1253, Bishop Bartholomew, together with the archdeacon, Leonardo of Spoleto; Jacobo, the archpriest of Trevi; Brothers Leo and Angelo, close friends of St. Francis; Brother Mark, chaplain of the monastery; and a notary went to the Monastery of San Damiano in Assisi and officially interviewed under oath thirteen of the sisters who had lived with St. Clare.
Three of them, Sister Philippa, Sister Amata, and Sister Balvina, all related the following event. Here is Sister Philippa’s testimony from “The Acts of the Process of Canonization”:
“The Lady Clare narrated how on the most recent night of the Lord’s Nativity because of the serious illness she could not get up from her bed to go to the chapel. All the sisters went as usual to Matins and left her alone. The Lady said with a sigh: ‘Lord God, look, I have been left here alone with You.’ She immediately began to hear the organ, responsories, and the entire Office of the brothers in the Church of Saint Francis, as if
