For the “romance” of Clare and Francis has always exuded a warmth and a brightness that cannot be accounted for by the actual events. I believe the source of that fire is partly our own awareness that in their relationship the ardor of human sexuality was perfectly, beautifully sublimated—not suppressed or denied, but transformed, as the mystics have always insisted it can be, into a nearly boundless love for everyone around them. Whether we ourselves ever come within reach of such a transformation—whether or not we even want to—something in us rejoices at thinking it possible. The purity of Clare and Francis’s friendship has been a source of tremendous inspiration to their followers, because the atmosphere that surrounds their memory is not one of desiccated, grim self-denial, but of merriment and outright joy.
–Carol Lee Flinders, Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics
