St. Elizabeth of Hungary: More Than a Fun Halloween Costume
Taryn DeLong shares the story of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: wife, mother, Secular Franciscan, and princess.
A couple of weeks ago, at All Saints’ Day Mass, our pastor asked all of the children who were dressed as saints to come up to the altar and tell us who they were dressed as. There were two dressed as Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. This made sense to me; the only time I ever dressed up as a saint for All Saints’ Day, I dressed as Saint Elizabeth. Who wouldn’t want to wear a pretty dress and a crown?
A Crown of Thorns
Many years later, I’ve pointed to Saint Elizabeth as an example of how not all saints are called to a life of poverty. Some have great wealth and use it to serve others. Saint Elizabeth wanted to live a life of poverty but was a princess instead. On the Feast of the Assumption one year, she took off her crown and laid it before the crucifix at a church. She was scolded, but she answered, “How can I, a wretched creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?”
Saint Elizabeth is known for this question as well as her great ac
Who was St. Elizabeth of Hungary?
Born into nobility nearly years ago, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was inspired by God to use her royal position, as a princess by birth and countess by marriage, to help the poor. Instead of ignoring the destitute, she went out looking for the most impoverished, humbling herself to benefit the sick and starving. Elizabeth saw the face of Jesus in the beggar, the leper, the homeless, and devoted her life in the service of such people.
Helping and serving were not enough for Elizabeth; she wanted to know the holy poverty and suffering of Our Lord. She believed that only through evangelical poverty, by living with the poorest of the poor, could she truly imitate Christ. But detaching herself from the trappings of royalty was not easy.
Born a Princess
Elizabeth was born in to King Andrew II and Queen Gertrude in Pressburg, Hungary. Shortly after her birth, her parents promised Elizabeth in marriage to Louis, son of Hermann I, landgrave of Thüringen, Germany.
A landgrave was a powerful German ruler, and Hermann had dominion over much of central Germany. The marriage implied assistance and military cooperation between Hungary and Thüringen.
At age
LIVED: Elizabeth was born in the Kingdom of Hungary to King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania on July 7, ; she died in Thuringia (in modern-day Germany) on November 17, at the age of St. Francis lived around the same time ().
MISSION: Elizabeth made many private vows to God and became a Third Order Secular Franciscan. She strove to serve God by serving her people well.
ADVENTURES: Princess Elizabeth was promised in marriage to the young landgrave of Thuringia at the age of four, and was raised with him in the magnifi cent Wartburg Castle. The two were married when Elizabeth was fourteen and Louis was twenty-one. For the most part, the people of the court welcomed the Hungarian princess, but Elizabeth’s growing devotion to God, plus her desire to follow the way of St. Francis, caused some in the court to grumble and gossip. They said she prayed too much. They fretted when she wore plain clothes and went to Mass barefoot. (She caused a minor uproar when she removed her gold crown before the crucifix at Mass.) And they especially didn’t like her generosity to the poor, whom she fed from her table and washed with her own hands. In response to all these complai
St Elizabeth of Hungary was a princess and the daughter of King Andrew of Hungary.
She was born on July 7 in Bratislava, Slovakia (previously Pozsony, Hungary).
She died on November 17 at the age of 24 in Hesse, Germany (previously Marburg, Landgraviate of Thuringia).
We celebrate her feast day on November 17 every year in the Catholic Church.
St Elizabeth of Hungary is the Patron Saint of
- Widows
- Third Order of Saint Francis
- Teutonic Order
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro, Iloilo City, the Philippines
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá
- Nurses
- Lace-makers
- Košice, Slovakia
- Hospitals
- Homeless people
- Falsely accused people
- Exiles
- Dying children
- Countesses
- Budapest, Hungary
- Brides
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Bakers
| St Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious Biography | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | July 7 |
| Place of Birth | Bratislava, Slovakia |
| Profession | Served the sick |
| Place of Work | Thuringia, Germany |
| Date of Death | November 17 (aged 24) |
| Place of Death | Marburg, Landgraviate of Thuringia (modern-day Hesse, Germany) |
| Feast Day | November 17 |
| Canonization | By Pope Gregory IX on May 27 in Perugia, Italy |
Patron Saint
Biographies you may also likeApollonia saint clair biography books The sixth – and final – volume of Ink is my Blood is a collection of Apollonia Saintclair’s work made between and For this volume Apollonia has written an explanatory . Eiji tsuburaya biography of martin Eiji Tsuburaya (Japanese: 円谷 英二, Hepburn: Tsuburaya Eiji, July 7, – January 25, ) was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker and inventor. He is regarded as one of the Missing: martin. John ross artist biography John Ross, painter, printmaker, author, and educator, was born in New York City on September 25, He studied at Cooper Union School of Art in New York from to with . Nigerian patrick doyle biography definition Patrick Doyle is a veteran Nigerian actor and broadcaster who gained widespread popularity in the s, particularly for his roles as a religious leader. He is well-known for his . Barun and sanaya friends lyrics Barun's Insta Pravesh got a grand welcome by his buddies- Sanaya Irani, Akshay Dogra and Gautam Hegde. Sanaya shared a picture and wrote, "Always the last one for . Christoffel wiese biography of albert Christo Wiese is the brain behind Shoprite, Africa’s most storied retail chain. A story is told of two shoe salesmen who went to a poor country to undertake due diligence because Missing: albert. | |