About St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary was a generous and loving queen of Thuringia, Germany, in the early 13th century. She is another woman who had every earthly luxury available to her, but chose to live a more humble life. In fact, she leveraged her royal possessions to provide even more relief for the poor.

Childhood

Elizabeth was born in 1207 to the King of Hungary, Andrew II, and his wife Gertrude of Merania. Her parents promised her in marriage to the eldest son of the Landgrave (ruler) of Thuringia, Germany, when Elizabeth was very young. So she was sent to be raised and educated with her future husband when she was 4 years old. This arrangement ratified a political alliance for the two families and the two countries.

When Elizabeth was 6 years old, her mother was murdered by Hungarian noblemen. The attack was related to a conflict with Germany. After losing her mother, Elizabeth sought peace through prayer.

Throughout her childhood, Elizabeth was surrounded by a wealthy and culturally rich environment, but despite the great wealth and privilege, Elizabeth remained devoted to God. Those that knew her as a child, “noticed that she was always trying to be holy. As she would play games with the other children, she would always contrive little ways to sneak into the chapel and have a visit with Jesus.” (found here, para 3)

Marriage

Ludwig was 21 and Elizabeth was 14 years old when they married. Later that same year, Ludwig succeeded his father to the throne of Thuringia, Germany. The couple worked at their marriage and had great respect and admiration for one another. They had three children, Hermann II, who died at a fairly young age, Sophia, who married Henry II, the Duke of Brabant, and Gertrude, who became the abbess of a convent.

Because of her devotion to God and to serving his poor, Elizabeth was very generous with the family’s wealth. She took food and clothing from the palace and gave it to needy people. Some members of the royal family did not approve of her inclination to give away their wealth, and they treated her very badly.

One legend claims that Elizabeth was sneaking some bread out of the palace under her cloak when she ran into Ludwig. Hoping to ease the suspicions of those around, he asked her to show what she was hiding. Miraculously, they saw instead a bundle of red and white roses. Ludwig believed this was evidence of God protecting her, and he, too, became very protective of Elizabeth. He supported her charitable efforts and often held her hands as she knelt in prayer at night.

Life without Ludwig

Ludwig had a close relationship with the Emperor, Frederick II, and often worked for him. While he was away on one of the missions for the Emperor, a severe famine and flood hit Thuringia. In his absence, Elizabeth took charge. She made a hospital with 28 beds and personally cared for the sick who were there. She also fed more than 900 people each day and gave away royal clothing to the poor. From this, Elizabeth began to really be known as a gentle and charitable ruler. When Ludwig returned, he supported everything she had done.

In 1927, the Emperor sent Ludwig to fight in the Crusades trying to win back the Holy Land for the Church. While on that mission, Ludwig died from the plague, so Elizabeth was a widow at age 20. Meanwhile, Ludwig’s family, still feeling that she squandered their royal fortune, continued to treat Elizabeth very badly. Without Ludwig to protect her, they went so far as to throw her and her children out of the palace. However, when Ludwig’s allies returned from the Crusades, they reinstated her.

Religious Devotion

She vowed that she would never marry again and vowed celibacy and to live a religious life. A Franciscan, Brother Rodeger, taught her about St. Francis and the Franciscan spirituality. He instructed her “to observe, according to her state of life, chastity, humility, patience, the exercise of prayer, and charity. Her position prevented the attainment of the other ideal of St. Francis, voluntary and complete poverty. ” (cited here, para 9)

Although she was terribly disappointed that she couldn’t also adopt the true poverty of the Franciscans, her lack of poverty allowed her to use her wealth to feed many poor people. According to D.D. Emmons from the Newsweekly of Our Sunday Visitor (OSV, found here) Elizabeth was  “in a way, the antithesis of the rich young man described in Matthew’s Gospel.” (para 1) Certainly, Elizabeth was more than willing to give all her possessions to the poor.

At age 21, Elizabeth joined the Third Order of St. Francis. She used her dowry to build a hospital in honor of St. Francis, and she personally attended to the ill.

Sainthood

Perhaps because she was exposed to so much illness while caring for the sick, she died in 1231 at age 24. Many cases of miraculous healing were reported at her graveside, and examinations of healed patients took place from 1232 to 1235. These events, along with testimony from her handmaidens and companions and her overwhelming popularity caused her to be considered for canonization very quickly. Pope Gregory IX canonized Elizabeth on May 27, 1235.

St. Elizabeth is a patroness of bakers, beggars, brides, charities, death of children, homeless people, hospitals, widows, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Secular Franciscan Order. She was also named the official patroness of Catholic Charities in 2000. I hope you will join us this week as we contemplate the lessons from St. Elizabeth of Hungary.