November 19 – St. Elizabeth of Hungary

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. Afterward, 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. – from a letter by Conrad of Marburg, spiritual director of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Daughter of the King of Hungary, Elizabeth was taken at the age of four to the castle of her future husband, Louis IV, Duke of Thuringia, who was then eleven. The pair grew up together, loved each other deeply, and were married in 1221. During their brief married life, Elizabeth extended her ceaseless charity toward the needy and the sick of the kingdom. After Louis had joined Emperor Frederick II on the Fifth Crusade, he caught the plague at Otranto and died. His uncle drove Elizabeth and her three children from the court in midwinter. After she had suffered great hardships, the Duke’s companions returned from the Crusade and she was restored. Her children provided for, Elizabeth became a Franciscan tertiary. She died at the age of 24.

Mass of a HOLY WOMAN, except

Patronage:

• against in-law problems
• against the death of children
• against toothache
• bakers
• beggars
• brides
• charitable societies
• charitable workers
• charities
• countesses
• exiles
• falsely accused people
• hoboes
• homeless people
• hospitals
• lacemakers
• lace workers
• nurses
• nursing homes
• nursing services
• people in exile
• people ridiculed for their piety
• tertiaries
• tramps
• widows

Pictorial Lives of the Saints – Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Elizabeth was daughter of a king of Hungary, and niece of Saint Hedwige. She was betrothed in infancy to Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia, and brought up in his father’s court. Not content with receiving daily numbers of poor in her palace, and relieving all in distress, she built several hospitals, where she served the sick, dressing the most repulsive sores with her own hands. Once as she was carrying in the folds of her mantle some provisions for the poor, she met her husband returning from the chase. Astonished to see her bending under the weight of her burden he opened the mantle which she kept pressed against her, and found in it nothing but beautiful red and white roses, although it was not the season for flowers. Bidding her pursue her way, he took one of the marvellous roses, and kept it all his life. On her husband’s death she was cruelly driven from her palace, and forced to wander through the streets with her little children, a prey to hunger and cold; but she welcomed all her sufferings, and continued to be the mother of the poor, converting many by her holy life. She died in 1231, at the age of twenty-four.

Reflection – This young and delicate princess made herself the servant and nurse of the poor. Let her example teach us to disregard the opinions of the world and to overcome our natural repugnances, in order to serve Christ in the persons of His poor.

Saints and Saintly Dominicans – 19 November

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Widow

She was a king’s daughter, and her brother Bela was the father of Blessed Margaret of Hungary, venerated in the Order of Saint Dominic. Whilst still a child, Elizabeth gave all her money to the poor, on condition that they should recite a Hail Mary for her. Rich ornaments displeased; her; she spoke little and very gravely, taking care not to speak to the prejudice of anyone. In the marriage state she was an example of charity and fidelity to duty to all her relations. Every day she fed several hundred of poor persons, without counting those whom she maintained in the country. Neither the difficulty of the roads, nor the dirtiness of the streets, or the bad odor and infection of their houses deterred her. Her docility of her director. Father Conrad, was absolute, and he tried her in various ways; in particular by removing from her two pious women who were her consolation, and in substituting for them two others who were rough and severe, reproving her wrongfully and disrespectfully. Having lost her husband, who died in Sicily on his way to fight for the deliverance of the Holy Land, she passed from abundance to want, from honor to abjection. But she loved her humiliation so well that she desired to remain in it up to her death. She is the Patroness of the Third Order of Saint Francis, as Saint Catherine of Siena is that of Saint Dominic. (1231)

Reflections

The poor in spirit have poverty for Queen; there are no wars in her kingdom, always peace, tranquillity and justice; the walls of the city are strong; its ornaments are piety and mercy. (Maxims of the saints).

Practice

Approach to God with so much the more confidence as you have less support from creatures.

– taken from the book Saints and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, 

Fr. Weninger’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Landgravine of Hesse and Thuringia

Saint Elizabeth, a model of devotion and purity to those who live singly, a mirror of love and retirement for married people, a most perfect example of patience for widows, and whose virtues deserve to be followed by all, high and low, was born in Hungary. She was a daughter of Andrew II, King of Hungary, and of Gertrude, daughter of the Duke of Carinthia. According to the Roman Breviary, Elizabeth began in early childhood to fear God, and increased in piety with age. The walk she loved best of all was going to church, where she prayed with angelic devotion, and whence it was a difficult task to bring her home, as her greatest delight consisted in praying. At the door of the church, she always took off the jewelled coronet which she wore, and when asked why she did this, she replied: “God forbid that I should ever appear with such a crown before the face of Him who was crowned with thorns, and who, out of love for me, was nailed to the cross.” She called Mary, the divine Mother, her mother, and entertained great devotion towards Saint John, the Apostle and Evangelist, whom she chose as the special protector of her chastity. She never refused what was asked of her in the name of the Blessed Virgin or in that of Saint John. The money allotted to her for her recreation, she gave to the poor, requesting them to say the Ave Maria. She was an enemy to luxury, vain adornments and idleness. Nature had not only bestowed upon her unusual personal beauty, but had also endowed her with great qualities of mind.

In obedience to her parents, she gave her hand to Louis, Landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia, and lived with him in continual harmony, her conduct being as blameless in the married state as it had been during her maidenhood. She gave one hour every night to prayer, and spent the day in attendance at the divine service in the church, in devout reading and in working for the poor. She always treated her husband with love and respect, and was a model of all virtues to her subjects. She watched over her domestics with a most careful eye, in order that they might lead a Christian life; but took always a mother’s interest in seeing that their wages were punctually paid. She herself carried to the church the princes and princesses to whom she gave birth; and it was her custom, on these occasions to lay a rich offering on the Altar, and to give abundant alms to the poor. Under her royal robes, she continually wore a garment of hair-cloth. For the sick and the forsaken she had more than a mother’s care and solicitude. She erected a hospital in which she nursed the sick and sheltered orphans; besides feeding nine hundred poor people, every day, at the palace, and sending alms to the dwellings of those who were ashamed to beg. She also visited the sick in their houses, and served them most tenderly even when they were leprous. She kissed their hands and feet, and encouraged them to patience. Never did a poor person leave her without receiving alms, and more than once, when she had no money with her, she gave away the veil from her head. She did not hesitate even to mend the clothes of the needy, and during a severe famine, gave all her corn to the sufferers. In one word, she did not neglect anything that Christian charity could do; so that she was universally called the mother of the poor.

There were at court many who, on account of her great charity, laughed at and derided her; some even accused her of extravagance. Elizabeth, however, did not allow herself to be diverted from her deeds of kindness, and the Landgrave dismissed her accusers with indignation, probably because he perceived that the more charitable his spouse was, the more he was blessed with temporal goods. Hence he not only abstained from disturbing her in her kind deeds, but assisted her in them as long as he lived. He ended his life in a crusade, in which he joined with several other Christian princes in order to conquer the Holy Land from the infidels. Elizabeth grieved deeply when the news of his death reached her, but submitted to the will of the Almighty, saying: “It is known to Thee, O my God, that I loved no one on this earth more than my husband; not only because he was my husband, but also because he loved Thee with his whole heart. But as it has pleased Thee to call him, I am well contented with Thy holy will; and if I could, against Thy decree, raise him from the dead by reciting one Pater Noster, I would not do it. I only beg of Thee to give him eternal peace, and bestow upon me the grace to serve Thee faithfully until the end of my days.” After this heroic submission to the will of God, she caused many masses and prayers to be said for the deceased, gave large alms to the poor, divested herself of her royal robes, and, though but twenty years old, she vowed to live in chaste widowhood for the rest of her days. It pleased the Almighty to try His zealous handmaid most painfully. The nobility made the brother of the deceased Landgrave regent, and accused the holy princess of having impoverished the state by her charity to the poor. Under this pretext, they deprived her of all her possessions, and banished her from the Court, with three children, a son and two daughters. Her former vassals, fearing to draw upon themselves the disfavor of the new government, durst not give her lodgings. Even the hospitals, which she herself had founded, were closed against her. Hence she had to lodge mostly in a stable and to live on the bread she begged. In such unexpected and more than painful circumstances, Saint Elizabeth showed a truly heroic, and, to the children of the world, incomprehensible strength and patience. She complained to no one of the injustice of the nobility, not even to her royal father, who was still living; but rejoiced that she could suffer for the love of God. After the first night of her banishment, she went to the Church of the Franciscans and requested them to sing the “Te Deum,” or “Great God! we praise thee,” to give thanks to God for the sorrows with which He had visited her. The wrongs and outrages which the holy princess suffered, besides her banishment, can hardly be described. An old woman, who had formerly received clothing and nourishment from Saint Elizabeth, dared to push her into a pool of stagnant water, in the street, abusing her at the same time most shamefully, for not having immediately made way for her. This outrage aroused not in the least the wrath of the holy princess; she quietly raised herself out of the pool, cleansed her garments, and offered herself to the Almighty for more suffering. God did not fail to comfort His handmaid in her adversity. Christ appeared to her, during her prayers, encouraged her, and promised never to abandon her. After some time, through her father’s influence, a dwelling, suitable to her rank, was conceded to her, and her dowry was refunded. The Saint immediately used one part of the building for a hospital, made her home in the same, and nursed the sick, as if she had been a servant, hired to wait upon them. All her spare time was employed in prayer and other devout exercises. She also chastised her body by fasting and other penances. At the age of twenty-four years, she learned by revelation, that her end was approaching, for which she prepared herself by most devoutly receiving the holy sacraments. She exhorted all those who were around her death-bed, to love God with their whole heart and to assist the poor to the best of their ability. After this, she continued in prayer, until her soul, richly adorned with virtues and merits, went to her Creator, in the year of Our Lord 1231. The funeral took place at Marburg, in Hesse, where her holy remains still rest, honored not only by Catholics, but also by many Protestants. Luther himself, though a declared enemy of the Saints, believed our Elizabeth to have been one, and called her so, thereby acknowledging that one can be saved and become a saint in the Catholic faith. The miracles that have taken place at the shrine of the holy princess, have made her celebrated throughout the whole world. Sixteen dead persons are known to have been restored to life, through her intercessions, and the number of the sick, who were restored to health, is incomparably greater.

Practical Considerations

• The life of Saint Elizabeth may serve as a model to persons of every age and station. Children may learn to fear God from their earliest years, and to increase their devotion with their age; single persons, how to live chastely in their state; married people, how husband and wife ought to live together; and the widowed how to sanctify their solitude. Masters and mistresses may learn how to take care of their domestics, and pay their wages regularly. Those of a higher station may learn to set a good example to others, and not to be ashamed to appear at public worship. All Christians can find instruction in it, for employing their time well, helping the needy, and bearing crosses and trials sent by heaven. God permitted a Landgravine, a royal princess, to be banished unjustly from court, to beg her bread, and, besides other ignominies, to be refused a shelter among her own subjects. Still she complained not; but, submissive to the decrees ot Providence, gave humble thanks to the Almighty for all that He, in His wisdom, had sent her. Even at the death of her husband, what fortitude, what submission to the divine will she manifested! Oh! that all would endeavor, in trials of much less severity, to unite their will with that of God, and patiently bear the cross that He has laid upon them.

• The favorite walk of Saint Elizabeth, when she was still a child, was to go to church, where she manifested most angelic devotion, and was so happy, that she could hardly be persuaded to leave. What is your favorite walk? Where do you like to remain? And when you do go to church, why are you in such haste to leave it again? Why do you much oftener go to theatres, frivolous societies, vain amusements, bar-rooms and ball-rooms, than to Church, to prayers, to sermons, or to public worship? Why does the sermon, the mass, or conversation with God in prayer so soon become wearisome to you, when many hours, nay, even half the day or night seem not long, when you occupy them in gaming, dancing, or silly conversation? Answer these questions if you can; and then tell me, do you expect to justify yourself before God, and to enter the same heaven into which Saint Elizabeth entered? “Ah! truly, heaven becomes not the dwelling of those who sleep and are idle, but of those who earnestly endeavor to gain it.” Thus speaks the holy pope, Saint Leo.

Father Francis Xavier Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Landgravine of Hesse and Thuringia”. Lives of the Saints, 1876.