Saint Elizabeth of Hungary - 3 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

Elizabeth's Cross

What Ludwig did not tell his wife on his return was the disastrous political situation of the Emperor. At the time Frederick was being threatened with excommunication for not fulfilling the promise he had made to lead a Crusade once he was crowned Emperor. The Emperor's obligation now forced Ludwig to participate; he readily pledged to follow his lord and take up the Crusader's Cross.

"That winter was one of the worst... because of flood, famine, plague... Elizabeth had 900 loaves of bread baked each day... and a hospice for children and babies was established."

He did not want to break the news to his beloved wife, but when she found out by accident, although she somehow suspected this would happen, she almost fainted from grief. Ludwig consoled her by reminding her that when they were young they had talked about being crusaders and that it was a tradition for the Thuringian rulers to defend the Holy Land. His heroic wife replied: "I will not hold you back. It is the will of God. I bave given myself entirely to Him and now I must give you, too."

Before departing, Ludwig assembled the knights and vassals left behind and commanded then to take care of the women and children. "Our country is at peace," he said, "Now I am leaving my peaceful kingdom, my beloved wife, my little children, all that I hold dear, and I am going forth as a pilgrim of Christ. I beg of you to pray for me daily, that if it be the will of God, I may retum safe and sound to my kingdom." Father Conrad was placed in charge over the churches, and monasteries in the kingdom. Ludwig called his mother back to help take care of his family, especially Elizabeth, who was expecting their third child. He left all his business affairs to his brother Henry.

On the vigil of Saint John the Baptist, June 23, 1227, the moment to say goodbye had come. Ludwig kissed his mother and blessed his children, but Elizabeth could not be parted from him. She rode with him for two days to the border of Thuringia, where Ludwig finally told her to return, as he had to take command of all the troops assembled there. As they painfully parted, he showed her his ring and told her to believe any message she may receive from him if the ring accompanied it. "May God in Heaven bless you, little sister. May He bless the child that you are bearing. With His help you will be able to carry out what we have agreed upon. Remember our happy life, our holy love, and forget me not in any of your prayers."

Broken-hearted, she followed him with her eyes till they were out of sight and returning changed into mourning attire. She spent her days awaiting the arrival of her new baby, praying, doing penance and taking care of the poor and sick.

Meanwhile, after a long arduous trip across the Alps, Ludwig and his troops met up with the Emperor in Brindisi, Italy. A fever decimated the troops, but they continued on to Otranto. There, Ludwig, himself, succumbed and was given the Last Rites of the Church. As he lay dying, he gave his ring to a trusted knight, commanding him to give it to his wife with the news of his death. He died September 11, 1227, at the age of twenty-seven, his last wish was to be buried in Thuringia.

The knights arrived after a difficult journey with the sad news of Ludwig's death just after Elizabeth gave birth to their third child, Gertrude. They waited to give her the news.

When she heard she cried out: "Not this! Dead! Dead! My dear brother is dead! Now the world and all its joy is dead to me." She fell unconscious, and was returned to bed. For eight days she mourned in solitude. The entire castle lamented the loss of their beloved ruler, but her grief was beyond all measure. At last, Elizabeth, fortified by prayer, overcame her sorrow and called for the knights to tell the details of her dear husband's last hours.

Before the heavy snows of winter fell in 1227, Elizabeth's brother-in-law took complete authority as heir of the kingdom, officially declaring himself the Landgrave and announcing to the people that he was forced to do this as the Landgravine was incompetent and a great spendthrift. He did not tell them that he had withdrawn all funds from Elizabeth and her children.

Of course, the nobles supported him and went on to speak cruelly of her, now that Ludwig was no longer there to defend her. Finally Elizabeth was forced out of the Wartburg Castle into the streets of the village. Not a soul came to her defense. The village people, so many of whom she had helped, were told to refuse her hospitality.

She spent her first night on a farm where the pigs had been driven out to make room for her and her children. Her faithful maids stayed with her, but her three children were put in the care of Ludwig's friends. For months she endured this harsh treatment, supporting herself by weaving, spinning and living wherever she would be received.

Finally this scandalous situation was rectified at the insistence of Elizabeth's maternal aunt, the Abbess of Kitzingen, and her brother, the Bishop of Bamberg, who sent for her and her children and took them to live at the convent.

After the happy rescue and stay at the convent, which became the lifelong home of little Sophia, Elizabeth's uncle called her to the Castle Pottenstein in the Franconian Mountains. This powerful prelate had hopes of marrying his twenty-one-year-old niece to the newly widowed Emperor Frederick, having no idea of Elizabeth's previous vow. Upon hearing his plans, Elizabeth had recourse to prayer and left her beautiful wedding dress at Our Lady's altar, in a nearby monastery, as a pledge of her determination to keep her vow.

Her prayers were soon answered, for suddenly she was recalled to Thuringia for the interment of her husband's remains. The black, cross-covered coffin was opened and she gazed at the whitened bones of her dear Ludwig. When she regained her speech she prayed aloud:

"Lord, I thank Thee for having consoled me by this long desired sight of my husband's bones. Thou knowest that though I so deeply loved him, I do not regret the sacrifice which my dear one himself offered to Thee, and which I, too have offered Thee. I would give the whole world to have him back, and would willingly beg my bread with him, but I take Thee to witness, that against Thy will I would not recall him to life even if I could do it at the price of a single hair. Now I commend him and myself to Thy mercy. May Thy will be accomplished in us."

Elizabeth was forced out of the Wartburg Castle into the streets of the village... The village people were told to refuse her hospitality...

The Landgravine then summoned Ludwig's vassals and faithful knights who had brought his body back. She thanked them for their fidelity and informed them of all that had gone on since their lord's death. They pledged to defend her rights and the rights of her children, and they forced Henry to restore Elizabeth to her rightful position. She declined life at the Wartburg but retired to the family castle at Marbourg-Hess, with a suitable income and what was left of her dowry, which was negligible.

Father Conrad, her spiritual director, wrote concerning this time, "After the death of her husband, she was tending to the highest perfection and asked me how she could acquire more merit, as a recluse or in a convent or in some other state. Her mind was fixed on her desire to beg from door to door, and with many tears she implored me to let her do this." Instead, he ordered her to keep her possessione and to use them for the poor. She was permitted to join the Third Order of Saint Francis, being the first woman to do so, and her two faithful companions followed her.

At that time the Third Order was known as the "Brothers and Sisters of Penance" and it was much stricter than it is now. The members wore rough habits, recited the canonical hours, fasted most of the year and abstained from meat four days a week. Elizabeth was perfectly comfortable with these penances and she made her vows on Good Friday, renouncing everything. Her children were put in the care of others. Hermann went to Kreuzburg Castle to be trained as Landgrave and the two girls were sent to convents.

It is not surprising that King Andreas sent for his daughter to return to the comfort of Hungary. She sent him this message: "Tell my father that I am happier here than in any castle. Ask him to pray for me and to ask the court to do so also. Tell my good father that I will always pray for him."

Her father attempted a second time to convince her to come by sending his trusted knight, Walter de Varila, who tried to bring her home. As a final act of renunciation, Father Conrad ordered Elizabeth to send away her two faithful maidservants, who had been her only human consolation. He replaced their companionship with a rough ill-mannered peasant girl and an old deaf woman.

In November of 1231, Father Conrad was at the point of death. His main concern was the care of Elizabeth's soul. She assured him with these words: "Dear Father, I shall have no need for protection. It is not you who will die, it is I."

On Pentecost Sunday, 1235, only four years after her death, Elizabeth was canonized by Pope Grégory IX.

Four days later, Elizabeth was stricken with a fever. When the news got around that she was mortally ill, crowds came to see her. For twelve days there was a steady flow of visitors. Finally she asked that the doors be closed so she could be alone with God to prepare her soul.

Father heard her confession and gave her Viaticum. Guda and Isentrude, her friends, came to say goodbye, and she gave them her most treasured possession, the cloak of Saint Francis. As the midnight hour approached, her joy and happiness increased, and she said:

After a pause she resumed: "O Mary, come to my assistance! The moment has arrived when God summons His friend to the wedding feast. The Bridegroom seeks His spouse... Silence!... Silence!"

This was the night of November 19, 1232; she was not yet twenty-four years old. An old manuscript relates that her daughter, little Gertrude, four years old and far away in Marbourg, said, "I hear the passing bell at Marbourg; at this moment the dear lady, my good mother, is dead." In the tattered robe in which she died, Elizabeth was buried at her own request in the chapel of the hospital that she had founded.

Shortly after her death, Father Conrad drew up a detailed account of Elizabeth's life, her virtues and miracles, to begin the Church's juridical investigation of her holiness.

For death did not terminate Elizabeth's acts of charity to those in need. The miracles she had hidden during her lifetime became manifest to all those who invoked her intercession, especially for those who prayed at her tomb. Reports substantiating 130 miracles attributed to the saint were sent to Rome for her canonization.

Not only were the sick cured and difficulties miraculously resolved but there were also documented resurrection miracles attributed to Saint Elizabeth. They attest to her astonishing intercessory power and her great compassion for bereaved parents whose children have died. On five known occasions, children were restored to life because their parents prayed to this wonderful saint, usually making a vow of almsgiving in her honor.

On Pentecost Sunday, 1235, only four years after her death, Elizabeth was canonized by Pope Grégory IX, in the presence of Ludwig's mother and two brothers, her dear friends Guda, and Isentrude, Walter de Varila, and her own children; Hermann, 14, Sophia, 12, and Gertrude, 8.

As a final touch to this story, at the transferring of her relics in 1236, Emperor Frederick came and laid his crown on her tomb, saying: "Since I could not crown her as Empress in the world, I will at least crown her today, immortal queen in the Kingdom of God."

Saint Elizabeth's life was an example of perfect conformity to the will of God and faithfulness to one's state in life. She was surrounded by riches, yet never let them distract her from love for the poor. She was deeply in love with a man who equally loved her in return, yet she never gave God second place in her heart. She had everything and needed nothing; what she received she freely gave away.

She was never bitter when the tide of fortune turned against her. She accepted the sorrow of her husband's death in a truly Christian manner and she welcomed her own with equal resignation.

Her story is not a legend, but a lesson for all to imitate. Whether you live in a castle or a tenement, Saint Elizabeth beckons you to follow her footsteps to the throne of God by accepting His will in your life. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary - 2

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