Clare looked into the San Damiano crucifix, which had spoken to Francis. Like her, we look into the mirror of Christ on the cross to see God and to see ourselves; who we are, who we can become. As Christ mirrors us, so we, when we contemplate that mirror, begin to mirror him, who is both God and us when we are transformed by virtue. And it all begins with contemplation, which enables us to see, not subject to object, but subject to subject. What we look at begins to look back at us, both of us alive in the Spirit of God. The cross is both the image of God and of us, only if we let ourselves be transformed by contemplating the crucified Christ. Clare gazed on the San Damiano crucifix for over forty years, and it transformed her into Christ’s mirror.
— from the book Mystics: Twelve Who Reveal God’s Loveby Murry Bodo, OFM
//Franciscan Media//