Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

In 1207 a very special person was born not only was she the princess of Hungary, she would also be known all over the world for her kindness, her name is Saint Elizabeth.

Like many princesses of her time she was betrothed to a prince, his name was Louis.

 

 When Elizabeth was five she was taken to Thuringia, which nowadays would be in central Germany, to learn the customs and language of the people there. She was brought up with Louis, in a very religious environment; this is where she began her great journey in faith, from this early age she decided to live a life of penance, this would have been a hard choice as she had the means to lead an easy and comfortable life.

 

Elizabeth and Prince Louis were married when Elizabeth was fourteen and Louis was twenty, they both loved each other very much and they had three children.  For six years they all lived happily together.

Although Elizabeth and her family were very rich, Elizabeth had done many acts of charity in these years. Every time Elizabeth did a good deed, God would often bless her: such as when a leper, dying of his disease, came to the castle. Elizabeth was not afraid She took him in and laid him on her bed, where he died in comfort. Elizabeth did not get his disease in spite of this. A miracle occurred when Saint Elizabeth was out giving to the poor her husband came across her and asked her what was in her basket, instead of the loaves of bread he saw roses, he then realized that Elizabeth was following her calling from God, Prince Louis became very supportive in her work and he became very religious himself.

 

 When Elizabeth was twenty, Louis went to fight in a crusade and on the way there he died of an illness. After this Elizabeth left the court and devoted herself to her religion. She made vows to never marry again and to always listen to her confessor called Konrad. Her family had her beloved childrensent away because her family wanted her to marry again. Then they sent her away to a place called Bavaria.

 

 All the while she kept to her word and she also helped the poor more than ever before.  She built a Franciscan hospital in Marburg and attended to the patients daily. Despite all difficulties Saint Elizabeth was true to her word, she devoted her life to the poor.  She died at the age of twenty-four, after her death many miracles.

Her feast day is on November 17th.    

 

From a letter of Conrad of Marburg, Saint Elizabeth's spiritual director. 

This reading is part of the readings of The Divine Office on the 

feast day of Saint Elizabeth. 

From this time onward Elizabeth’s goodness greatly increased. She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of the poor.

  Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. Finally, when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection; filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from door to door.

  On Good Friday of that year, when the altars had been stripped, she laid her hands on the altar in a chapel in her own town, where she had established the Friars Minor, and before witnesses she voluntarily renounced all worldly display and everything that our Saviour in the gospel advises us to abandon. Even then she saw that she could still be distracted by the cares and worldly glory which had surrounded her while her husband was alive. Against my will she followed me to Marburg. Here in the town she built a hospice where she gathered together the weak and the feeble. There she attended the most wretched and contemptible at her own table.

  Apart from those active good works, I declare before God that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman. When she was coming from private prayer, some religious men and women often saw her face shining marvellously and light coming from her eyes like the rays of the sun.

  Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn-out dress, in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterwards, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died.

Responsory

℟. You have acted bravely and kept your courage high. Your love of chastity shall not go unrewarded,* and your name shall be blessed for ever.

℣. God has accepted your prayers and works of charity, and has remembered you,* and your name shall be blessed for ever.