St. Elizabeth of Hungary

1207-1231, Patron of Secular Franciscan Order - Feast Day: Nov. 17

Elizabeth was born at a time when it was still the practice for parents to decide whom their children should marry. By today's standards, it seems atrocious that the fate of a child should be decided at age 3 - before the child was even capable of understanding what a spousal relationship meant. That is exactly what happened to Elizabeth; she was to be raised in the castle of her future husband, Louis, also still a child.

Elizabeth was a lovely child, and as she matured, she was known for her charity to the poor and the needy. Louis recognized what a generous girl Elizabeth had become and really wanted to marry her, and when they were 18, they were married. The marriage was a happy one. Elizabeth built a large hospital where she daily fed nine hundred people. That, in itself, was a very large accomplishment. She gave herself totally to the work, and while Louis was away, she took over the regency of the area. In her spare time, she tended to the poor, especially the lepers.

Elizabeth was no stranger to suffering. The crusade to the Holy Land began in 1227 and Louis also went, but on the way, still in Italy, he died. Louis' brothers rose up against Elizabeth upon the news of his death, and Elizabeth was driven out of the palace. She was really not welcome anywhere. She was destitute and homeless with four children, the youngest being just two months old. Finally, after much searching for a place to stay, she was offered shelter in a stable. Elizabeth prayed in gratitude, recalling how Jesus Christ came down to Bethlehem only to find a stable. The only work she found was to spin flax and even from that she saved some money for the poor.

Turning down a proposal of marriage by Emperor Frederick II, she eventually settled in Marburg in a small house near a Franciscan church. She joined the Third Order of St. Francis and built a hospice for the poor and sick at Marburg. In those days, Third Order members wore a habit and cord. When only 24 years old, in Marburg, Elizabeth died from disease or fatigue. She was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1235. Her body can still be seen today in Marburg in a beautiful gold shrine. Some of the bones found their way to other places, but some are still in the beautiful Gothic St. Elizabeth Church at Marburg, which is now a Protestant church. Pope Leo XIII named her patroness of all charitable organizations for women. We are honored to have her as a patron of the Secular Franciscan Order.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS

 IHome