Saint Elizabeth lived in Hungary. She was born in the town of Presburg in 1207. When she was thirteen, she married Prince Louis of Thuringa, to whom she had been betrothed for nine years. Their castle was at the foot of a mountain, and she had a hospital built nearby, personally attending to the sick. Unfortunately, all of her nearest and dearest disproved of her work with the poor and sick, but she insisted on following Christ's instructions, not theirs. Here is an example of her piety and humility: On the feast of the Assumption Elizabeth and her sister-in-law went to Mass with Elizabeth's mother-in-law, the Duchess. Duchess Sophia insisted upon them dressing their best. When they entered the church, Elizabeth removed the small gold crown that adorned her head. The Duchess sneeringly asked her why she did so. Elizabeth responded, "Madam, ought I wear a golden diadem in a place where I behold Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?" Elizabeth and Louis had four children. When Louis died, Elizabeth sold what she owned and worked to support her family. She continued to help the needy, even though her family had very little. Elizabeth died when she was only 24, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX four years later. I love this little quote from her spiritual director (who lived in Marburg, Germany, by the way). "Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn-out dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterward, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died." I believe that she was a third-order Franciscan at the end of her life; at least, the Franciscans took care of her and her family because they were poor and needed shelter and so forth.
St. Elizabeth's story actually reminds me of Cinderella. She came from a humble family, married into a wealthy one. The only members of her family who supported her pious exercises and devotions died when she was probably about six. These are her mother Gertrude and her future father-in-law, Landgrave Hermann. Without them, all she had left were her proud mother-in-law, her wicked sister-in-law, and her husband Louis. Louis, of course, was good to her and loved her very much, but he was the baby of the family, and had to obey Duchess Sophia and princess Agnes.
Anyway, I personally adopted St. Elizabeth of Hungary as the saint I got my middle name from because I wasn't named after any one in particular. I was in second grade, I think, and I saw a picture of her in a saint book (you know, those skinny little books with a picture on one side and the story on the other?) and she was so beautiful that I had to be named after her!
That said, happy feast day Elizabeth!
