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monastery of Vallegloria in Spello for the formation of the sisters in that place.a
The Miracle of the Oil
15. 43This witness also said the life of blessed Clare was filled with miracles. 44She learned once, when there was no oil in the monastery, the blessed mother called a certain brother of the Lesser Brothers, Brother Bentevenga, who used to beg alms for them.45She told him to go seeking oil. He replied that they should prepare the jar for him. 46Then Lady Clare took a certain jar, washed it with her own hands, and placed it on a certain wall near the entrance of the house. There the brother would take it.
47The jar remained there for about an hour. Then that brother, Bentevenga, went for it and found it filled with oil. 48After search- ing diligently, he did not find who had placed it there. 49Asked how she knew this, she replied since she was in the house she saw when the lady had taken out the empty jar and she had brought it back filled. 50She said she did not know who had filled it or how it had been filled. 51Brother Bentevenga said the same. 52Asked about the time of this event, she replied it was about the second year after they had come to live in the monastery of San Damiano. 53Asked about what month and what day, she replied she did not remember. 54Asked if it were in the Summer or Winter, she replied, Summer. 55Asked which sisters were present at that time, she said sister Agnes, Saint Clare’s sister, who just a little while ago had passed from this life, was present, 56as well as Sister Balvina, abbess of the monastery of Vallegloria, who had also died, 57and Sister Benvenuta of Perugia, still living.b
58And she swore about these things, and the witness also said she could not explain with her own tongue the miracles and vir- tues which the Lord had shown through blessed Clare.
- Leaving San Damiano to establish or participate in the formation of other monasteries occurs rather frequently in the sources. It was the only legitimate reason for leaving the enclosure according to the norms of Cardinal Hugolino given to the Ladies of San Damiano, cf. Form of Life, supra 108-126. For information on the monastery of Vallegloria, cf. Mario Sensi, “Il patrimonio monastico di S. Maria di Vallegloria a Spello,” Bolletino della Deputazione di Storia Patria per l’Umbria 81 (1984): 77-149.
- Tradition places the death of Agnes, Clare’s sister, at November 16, 1253, that is, eight days before the investigation of the witnesses. This date, however, is not supported by other sources, e.g., the Legend 48, that claim her death occurred “a few days after the death of Saint Clare.” Cf. Chiara Augusta Lainati, Santa Chiara d’Assisi: Cenni biografici di Sant’Agnese d’Assisi (Assisi: Edizioni Porziuncola, 1969): 101-102.