Saint Elizabeth of Hungary - 2 1207 - 19 Novembre 1232 Mary Germaine MICM

A new social order -- The beautiful Star -- Saint in Sovereign Retinue -- Holy Matrimony
The Poor -- Advancing in Holiness -- Elizabeth's Cross -- Eviction -- Last days of Glory

Saint in Sovereign Retinue

From the start, Elizabeth despised the vanities of court life. She was often rebuked for her lack of attention to traditional details. But it was not disregard that made her different, but rather her deep spirituality that made the vanities of the world seem insignificant and unimportant. As a sacrifice, she would deliberately not wear signs of rank on holy days. As a princess, she had a wardrobe of exquisite gowns that she only wore to fulfill the duties of her state and to please her husband. Even when she did appear in radiant attire, her ladies in waiting knew that underneath it she wore a penitential hair shirt to keep her from becoming too attached to vanities.

During her childhood in Hungary the Child Jesus frequently came to play with Elizabeth, according to her life-long companions.

When she was twelve years old, Elizabeth shocked the court by her disregard for pomp and show. On the Feast of the Assumption she was required to go in state to attend the High Mass. "This meant that she and the princesses would be dressed in the full magnificence of their rich silk and velvet clothes, with long embroidered sleeves and surcoats, edged with fur, with magnificent long mantles carried by pages, their gloves sewn with pearls and precious stones, and their persons adorned with golden chains and jewels. The young princesses probably did not wear the customary linen coif but would have loose veils and coronets on their flowing hair. On entering the packed church they knelt before the crucifix, and then instead of moving to her place of honor with the others, Elizabeth took off her crown, laying it before the cross, and remained prostrate on the ground with her face covered."

All eyes turned toward the Landgrave's future bride. When his mother corrected her for this want of protocol, Elizabeth responded: "How can I, a miserable creature, remain wearing a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King, Jesus Christ, crowned with thorns?"

With all her heart she desired to receive Our Divine Lord in Holy Communion, but she had to wait - as custom demanded - until she was twelve. Only to Guda, her closest friend, did she confide that Jesus showed Himself to her many times in the Eucharist and in the poor. One day when she was distributing food at the castle gate, she saw Jesus among the beggars. He touched those around Him and their faces changed into His, showing her that she must see Him in the poor, sick, deformed and unwanted. No longer could she let her natural fastidiousness keep her at a distance from the poor or be repulsed by their dirt and ugliness. She knew for certain that Our Lord was asking her to care for the afflicted. This caused quite a stir in the court, which already regarded her as a foreigner and called her the "little Hungarian gypsy." lf it hadn't been for her betrothal to Ludwig, who championed her cause, life would have been unbearable.

Elizabeth's piety was so integrated in to her actions that she would even play in the conscious presence of Christ. When she would pass the outside wall of the castle chapel she would reverently kiss the stones. As she grew older her piety irritated the women of the court. It made them uncomfortable and they would grumble that she was too holy, prayed too long, and should have been a nun instead of being betrothed to the prince.

At this point news arrived that things were not well in Hungary. Her father, King Andreas, who had vowed to lead a Crusade, had instead made a peaceful expedition across Jericho and up the Red Sea. There, he retreated after a brief encounter with the Saracens. This humiliation, coupled with his inability to pay back the monies he had borrowed for the trip, was his downfall. Now the Hungarian alliance did not seem so promising to the Thuringian people and they began to reconsider the choice of Elizabeth as a match for the future Landgrave.

It began to be openly discussed and soon Ludwig's mother called a council without his knowledge. The main complaint against Elizabeth was her piety and extravagance to the poor. She could not be trusted with money for the good of the realm. Elizabeth learned about the council and held her own. After her recourse to many hours of prayer, she confided to Walter de Varila, the knight who had been appointed to her by her father, that she feared a conspiracy was about to separate her from her beloved Ludwig.

Varila bypassed the court council and asked Ludwig what his intentions were regarding the fate of Elizabeth. Ludwig, pointing to one of the tallest peaks in Thuringia, said that if the entire mountain were turned into gold he would not exchange it for his Elizabeth. "She is dearer to me than anything on earth and I will have no other for my bride."

Once Ludwig's determination became apparent, the murmuring subsided and Elizabeth was treated more kindly. Other trials began to arise that placed many obstacles to the wedding. The greatest was the false excommunication of Ludwig by an archbishop who attempted to seize his lands. Ludwig refused to surrender his rights to the unjust demands and gathered his troops to fight back, forcing the prelate to admit his error and lift the ban from him and his father.

Holy Matrimony

Finally in the spring of 1221, Elizabeth and Ludwig were married. She was fourteen and he was twenty-one. The entire kingdom, as well as a retinue of Magyar, envoys bearing gifts from the bride's homeland, was present. Elizabeth was now "Landgravine of Thuringia" and "Mistress of Wartburg". After a week of festivities, life returned to normal and the new couple was free to rule the Castle without the interference of Ludwig's mother, who had retired to live as a nun in the Cistercian convent of Saint Catherine, which her husband had built.

Wartburg Castle once again became the center of activity and excitement. It underwent some renovations by the new Landgrave including a larger banquet hall. Troubadours were back and happy times resumed, without the extravagance of the preceding reign. Ludwig was exceedingly proud of his lavishly dressed wife, but he was unaware of the spiritual motives behind her appearance.

"It is not through carna pleasure or vanity that I deck myself thus," she confided, "God is my witness, but only through Christian charity that I may remove from my brother all occasions of discontent or sin, if anything in me should displease him, that he may love me in the Lord, and that God Who has consecrated our lives upon earth may unite us in Heaven." And again: "It is in God that I love my husband; may He Who sanctified marriage grant us eternal life."

The holiness of this young bride is best described by Saint Francis de Sales, who said of her: "She played and danced and was present at assemblies of recreation, without prejudice to her devotion, which was so deeply root ed in her soul. Her devotion increased among the pomp and vanities to which her condition exposed her. Great fires are increased by the wind, while small ones are extinguished, if not screened from it."

Elizabeth "would ride through the village helping her subjects and listening to their problems..."

The new banquet hall now afforded them new opportunities to entertain. One night a German storyteller made his appearance in the gray habit of the newly founded Friars Minor. He entertained the party with his tales of the "poor little rich man" named Francis and his new Order. Elizabeth was greatly moved by all she heard and desired to became a follower of Saint Francis and help him rebuild the Church. She found her way by helping the poor.

The Poor

When Ludwig was absent she put off her gowns and dressed as a peasant in mourning. Then she would ride through the village helping her subjects and listening to their problems. She saw how they lived, and learned what they really thought of therr rulers; that they hated rich people who grew rich at their expense. The peasants endured hard labor, had to pay heavy taxes, and often suffered cruel treatment from the nobles. Her maids would accompany her on her errands of mercy... until she went to the leper colony, then she went alone. She brought food and clothing, but more importantly she brought love and the consolation of Catholic teachings.

She was a perfect picture of Christian Charity, and she used the many means at her disposal to pay debts, buy food and clothing to clean, nurse and bury the dead. Her charity challenged the entire feudal world. Of course Elizabeth's actions did not increase her popularity at court. Gossip was rife once more.

Elizabeth began to feel a great conflict within her soul and felt as though she were leading a double life. Although she and Ludwig attended Mass everyday, there were many worldly duties to tend to. She feared that her love for her husband competed with her love for God. She began to weep at Mass one day when she found herself staring at Ludwig during the Consecration. Ludwig, unaware of the reasons for her grief, left the chapel, but returned later to find her still crying. He too began to weep, when she explained to him why she was so sad. He was deeply touched by her pure soul.

She would often mortify herself by rising in the middle of the night to pray at the side of the bed. Ludwig would reach out and find her cold hands clasped on the blanket and enveloping them with his, would say: "Spare yourself, little sister." Once he met her hurrying down the street with her apron full of bread for the poor. When he asked her what it was that she carried, she let fall the apron and instead of bread, the apron was full of beautiful, fresh roses…

One time after she had spent the day distributing alms to the poor, Ludwig happened to return with a retinue of Hungarian nobles, coming in the name of King Andreas to inspect his daughter's situation and to invite the new couple to Hungary. Elizabeth had just given away all her beautiful clothes and was wearing a rough woolen smock. Seeing Ludwig's concern, she said, "I have never gloried in what I wore. But I will speak of this with God, and so it may happen that they may never notice my dress." When she entered the great hall, the Hungarians gazed at her in delight, for "her robes were of silk, hyacinthine, and shimmering with the dew of pearls!" Later, when the Landgrave questioned her she sweetly replied: "When it pleases God, He knows the way to do such things."

Ludwig and Elizabeth accepted the invitation to Hungary and stayed at the Pozsony Castle, where she was born. There she was feted and loaded with gifts by her father, whom she would never see again. Despite the happy return home, Elizabeth was distracted by the fact that she knew that the money needed for the extravagant homecoming came from taxes extracted from the poor subjects of the kingdom. She was hearthroken to think that power, comfort and money drove rulers, rather than concern for their fellow men. She yearned to lead a simple life and tried to convince Ludwig to yield to her desires. He gently explained to her that it was their duty to rule and their subjects would not respect them if they lived with less extravagance.

Advancing in Holiness

At this time the Friars Minor arrived in Germany with their appeal to all Christians to practice charity to the poor. They were invited by Elizabeth and Ludwig to their castle, where they pledged to help them any way they could. Elizabeth had a chapel built for the Friars and in gratitude Saint Francis sent his ragged cloak to thank her. It became one of Elizabeth's greatest treasures. In answer to her prayers, one of the Friars became her spiritual director. Under his guidance she grew closer to Our Lord, Whose Passion was her primary devotion and source of her strength.

On March 28, 1222, while Ludwig was away, Elizabeth's first child was born. He was inexpressibly happy at hearing the news. They named the baby Hermann, after his father. As soon as she was able, the young mother took her child to the chapel at Saint Catherine's to present him to God. She carried him in the same silver cradle that had taken her to Thuringia ten years earlier.

Worry now haunted her that her new son would be another tie to earth, keeping her heart from God, but her confessor advised her, "Your duty is now to your son ... It pleases God if each person practices virtue according to his station in life. You are a ruler, wife, and mother. It is very difficult, but not impossible, to practice poverty as a wealthy ruler. But you can practice other virtues like patience, humility, and charity as you now do. It may be God's will that you remain as you are. Your greatest offering would be to give up your own will."

Following this good advice, she became a true follower of Saint Francis. One of her favorite charities was to the lepers and on one occasion her sisterin-law, Agnes, met Ludwig on his return home, to report to him that Elizabeth had gone too far in her charity. They entered his apartment and pulled back the curtains, for Ludwig to see that a leper had been given his bed. As he stayed at the man, the disfigured features changed before their eyes into the face of Christ. Ludwig said gently, "Elizabeth, dear sister, it is Christ Whom you have bathed and fed and cared for. Let us both do what we can to serve Him by serving His suffering poor." And they built a hospital for the lepers.

Ludwig now realized he was dealing with no ordinary woman, and sometimes her miracles frightened him. He wrote to the Pope to request a director for her and Master Conrad was sent. But preceding his arrival another child was born whom they christened Sophia, after Ludwig's mother.

Unlike the Franciscans, Elizabeth's confessor proved to be harsh and severe. With Ludwig's permission and in his presence, Elizabeth promised Father Conrad that she would obey him in all things except those obliged by her marriage vows. She also made a vow to preserve perpetual chastity in case she should ever become a widow.

Conrad revealed, after her death, that the moment she made this vow, God allowed him to see the radiance of her soul in all its beauty. He prayed for light to guide such a soul entrusted to his care. Once he made her promise not to eat any food that came from the peasants unjust labor or that had been grown on land taken by force.

Elizabeth "was a perfect picture of Christian Charity..."

In the winter of 1225, Agnes, Ludwig's sister, left Wartburg to marry. This freed Elizabeth from the long penance of her sister-in-law's presence. However a new trial awaited her. That winter was one of the worst in the history of Europe because of flood, famine, plague and smallpox. Ludwig was away in the service of the Emperor, leaving Elizabeth, who was only 19, in charge of the castles, villages and vassals.

As the winter wore on, the peasants stormed Wartburg castle for grain. The stewards barred the way. When Elizabeth heard this, she wept and went down to the villages and personally distributed as much food as possible. The stewards did not disobey her outright, but were determined that she not give away the store of grain.

Desperate, the Landgravine sold her family jewels to buy food and when that was gone she demanded the granaries to be opened. "We shall not starve if we are generous. We must bave faith," she would say. But the knights and ladies of the court reacted against Elizabeth and joined the stewards and Bailiff in blocking the Landgravine's way. She prayed and finally the Bailiff opened the doors. Elizabeth then had 900 loaves of bread baked each day, soup kitchens were opened and a hospice for children and babies was established.

At last the cruel winter passed but was soon followed by a smallpox epidemic. The dead lay in the streets. Elizabeth brought her own children into their private chapel and prayed, "Lord God, I commit myself, my children, and my whole household to Thee. Watch over me while I go to do Thy will and give me the strength to do it." Then she went out to nurse the sick and bury the dead, making shrouds out of the veils she had worn.

In rural areas, the ladies and their servants helped her and Elizabeth built a small hospital at the foot of the road to the castle. It was the first hospital to be built and staffed by lay people in Germany. Summer came and the beat made the small of disease and death unbearable in the streets. But this did not stop Elizabeth from her works of charity which she continued until the plague was ended.

With the arrival of autumn, a new harvest and the retum of Ludwig heralded the promise of a brighter winter. But as he approached the town, the Marshal and the Bailiff gave their account of the grain distribution and warned him of his losses. After listening to their complaints, he asked them: "Is my wife well? That is all l care to know; the rest matters not. Let her give to the poor what she likes; as long as she loves me, I am content." Then he went with them to the granaries, which when they opened them had been miraculously filled to overflowing. Elizabeth's explanation was, "I bave given God what is God's and He has preserved what is yours and mine."

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary - 1

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