new orders for women
grew up in connection with the recently founded orders of the
Franciscans and Dominicans; the story of the foundation of the former
sisterhood in particular is one of striking interest. This organization
originated in 1212 and its members were called Les Clarisses, after
Clara, the daughter of Favorino Seisso, a knight of Assisi. Clara,
though rich and accustomed to a life of indolence and pleasure, was so
moved by the preaching of Saint Francis, that she sent for this holy man
and conversed with him at great length upon religious topics. Finally,
after a short but natural hesitation, she made up her mind to take the
veil and establish an order for women which should embody many of the
ideas for which the Franciscan order stood. The Franciscans, in addition
to the usual vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, laid special
stress upon preaching and ministry to the soul and body. After the
conversion was complete, she was taken by Saint Francis and his brother,
each one bearing a lighted taper, to the nearest convent, and there, in
the dimly lighted chapel, the glittering garments of her high estate
were laid upon the altar as she put on the sombre Franciscan garb and
cut her beautiful hair.

In the fourteenth century the interest taken by women in the conventual
life increased, and one of the most powerful influences in the
religious life of the time was Catherine of Siena, a creature of light
in the midst of the dark turmoil and strife which characterize this
portion of Italian history. Catherine was the beautiful and high-minded
daughter of a rich merchant of Siena, and at a very early age showed a
decided inclination for the religious life. At the age of twelve she
began to have visions and declared herself the bride of Christ; and
through her firmness she overcame the opposition of her parents and the
scorn of her friends, and made definite preparations for withdrawal from
worldly things. A small cell was arranged for her use in her father's
house, and there she would retire for prayer and meditation. At Siena,
in 1365, at the age of eighteen, she entered a Dominican sisterhood of
the third order, where she vowed to care for the poor, the sick, and for
those in prison.

In 1374 she went out in the midst of the plague, not only nursing the
sick, but preaching to the crowds in the street, giving them words of
cheer and comfort, and to such effect--according to the testimony of a
contemporary w