Saint Clare of Assisi, the Original Writings Sr. Frances Teresa Downing, O.S.C.The present book is timely, and definitely contributes a missing tool for those in the English-speaking audience who want to approach the Lady of Assisi. Even though an English translation of some of Clare's writings had been published as part of or as an appendix to books released around the 700th anniversary of her death, the English-speaking audience did not have access to a comprehensive translation of the writings of Clare until the early 1980s. Moreover, a first critical edition of the writings of Clare - Latin text with French translation, introduction and notes - finally appeared in the mid-1980s. That bilingual edition gave birth to versions in other languages like Italian, Portuguese and Polish. The present edition is unique. Prepared by Sr. Frances Teresa Downing, it is the first comprehensive bilingual Latin-English edition of the writings of Clare, and it is also the first English translation of those writings by a woman, and a woman who is a sister of Clare's Order. This new translation follows closely the original Latin and, as such, is an intellectual work of quality. But it also proceeds from the heart and the love for Lady Clare, the Poor Sister of San Damiano in Assisi.