Saint John the Evangelist -  Another ancient feast found in the breviary of Saint Clare. Clare herself quotes from Saint John’s Gospel in her letters. 
On December 25, 1808, French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte entered the town of Tordesillas, Spain.  (There had been a royal monastery of Poor Clares there for centuries, and as happened in Europe, a town grew up around the monastery.)  The soldiers locked up the chaplain and several other priests in the parlor of the monastery.  They were left without food or water for several days.  Through clandestine means the nuns learned the fate of the priests.  The Abbess Maria Manuela was ordered to come to see Bonaparte himself.  He met her in his room, dressed in uniform and all the insignia of the Empire.  He offered her a seat at his side and offered her coffee.  With pretended innocence, the Abbess charmed the Emperor, and he said that he would grant any favor she asked him.  Naturally, she asked that he spare the lives of the three prisoners at the monastery.  This he granted willingly.