Nov. 17th - St. Elizabeth of Hungary

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth was daughter of the noble king of Hungary, and was of noble lineage, but her greatest nobility was her faith and religion than by her right noble lineage. For when she was yet but five years old she would often go to the church to pray, and would invite her young friends to come as well. As she grew in age, she grew in devotion, and chose the blessed Virgin as her lady and her advocate, and Saint John the Evangelist to be her protector of her virginity.

At the age of 14, she married Louis IV, and they had three children. Elizabeth is said to have stolen bread, which she gave to the poor and later distributed grain during famines. It is believed once when she met her husband unexpectedly on one of her charitable errands; the loaves of bread she was carrying were miraculously changed into roses. This transformation convinced him of the worthiness of her kind endeavors. He had been chastising her for donating to the poor.

When she was 20 yrs. old, just after giving birth to her third child, her husband died. Due to his death, she moved to Germany and there she renounced all her goods and gave them to the poor, for whom she founded a hospital. She began to follow the way of St. Francis of Assisi, in his whole hearted life of poverty. She dedicated herself to serving the most underprivileged and died at the young age of 24. After her death, she would become one of the patrons of the Third Order of St. Francis.

St. Elizabeth is the patron saint of bakers, countesses, death of children, falsely accused, the homeless, nursing services, tertiaries, widows, and young brides. Her symbols are alms, flowers, bread, the poor, and a pitcher.

Today, let us pray to Elizabeth, may we seek to grow in our devotion to Mary ask St. John to watch over our purity, and to always be aware of the needs of the poor and help them in any way we can.