Edward Warrington, on behalf of her companions at CLC Malta writes:

Clare Camilleri, wife, mother, accountant, spiritual guide, dog lover and member of Malta’s Christian Life Community (CLC), crossed the threshold to eternal life silently, serenely, before dawn on Tuesday, October 26.

Clare Camilleri

In the last photo shared with her friends, only the day before, she can be seen at the foot of a statue of St Francis in Gubbio, Italy. The saint is embracing a wolf, while Clare sits in a wheelchair. Perhaps that representation of the gentle poverello, companion of the crucified Christ and friend of the loveless wolf, inspired her to befriend another wolf, the illnesses which gnawed at the last years of her life.

Like St Francis, Clare was intimate with Christ, bearing her cross patiently, and voicing, softly but firmly, her complaint at what had befallen her. Yet there was no doubting Clare’s strength, nor the spirited independence which made her sparkle: that image of her hand on the throttle of a wheelchair does not erase earlier images of her driving a well-loved Land Rover at the start of a family camping trip, complete with Penny and Taffy, equally beloved canine companions.

Clare’s enthusiasm for camping epitomised her spirit, her zest for life, her practical turn of mind and organising ability, above all, her well-balanced temperament.

Her marriage to Ian, her children, profession, faith, pastoral work, commitment to CLC Malta, respect for creation, all these formed a seamless whole in the way she understood life and lived it.

In important ways, Clare was a pioneer: one of the first women to join the accountancy profession, one of the first lay spiritual guides. She conceived the Sunday liturgies which allowed young families in CLC and beyond to form their children in the faith together, and thereby led them to experience the Church as a welcoming community of faith.

As a retreat-giver, she helped people from all walks and stations of life to recognise the joyful unity of human existence, creation and God. In sickness and in health, her life bore witness to a God who is life-giving, surprising, forgiving, compassionate.

Those who knew and loved Clare can imagine her confession at the threshold of the Father’s house: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7), and the joyous rejoinder that greeted her: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant... enter into the joy of your Master” (Mt 25: 21-23).