Saturday, December 31, 2011

St. Elizabeth of Hungary


Tonight, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth was a princess. She is a canonized Saint within the Catholic Church and was definitely “the People’s Princess”, so much beloved by her people that she is remembered as “Dear Elizabeth”.

We don’t have royalty here, in the U.S. The closest thing we have to royalty is not our politicians, but our celebrities. So, I’d like you take just a second and imagine what would it be like if you were the son or daughter of say, Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson, or Madonna? We can say is that you’d have a lot of nice clothes, that you’d eat gourmet food, that you’d be surrounded by  intelligent and interesting people at all times;  musicians, artists, politicians, hair-dressers, makeup people, engineers, lawyers, accountants – a flurry of all kinds of the best, brightest and most influential people. You’d also be surrounded by security personnel. At least one body-guard, even in your quiet and most private moments… One of the most treacherous pitfalls to this kind of life is; it would be easy to grow up to become guarded, jaded, suspicious. Growing up in an environment of wealth and influence, it’s difficult to know who is your friend and who is your enemy. It’s difficult to know who loves you and who is pretending to love you, while using you for your money or using you for their own social and political gain. This kind of situation is heart-breaking. This is the world that Princess Elizabeth was born into.

Elizabeth was born in Hungary, in the year 1207, daughter of King Alexander II and Queen Gertrude. She was surrounded by wealth, the finest clothes, the finest foods – surrounded by the best, brightest and most influential people. She was surrounded by people who smiled at her and treated her kindly, but who privately lived lives devoted to personal ambition, competition, devoted to devious political schemes. When Elizabeth was 4 years old, her parents arranged a royal marriage for her and she was sent away from her home to Thuringia, to be raised and educated in the household of her future husband, Hermann of Thuringia. This must have been traumatic for the young girl, she must have been heartbroken. When Elizabeth was only 6 years old, her mother (Queen Gertrude) was assassinated. When she was 9 years old, her betrothed Herman died. I do not know the cause of his death, whether it was political intrigue or war, or illness. A year later, King landgrave (her betrothed-husband’s father) was excommunicated from the church, went insane and died. Part of King landgrave’s insanity came from the belief that another King had hired mercenaries to assassinate him, he was afraid for his life. So, for a long time the court and Elizabeth’s home had been in horrifying uproar and chaos. These events and I’m sure a whole legion of other horrors of the political life must have had profound effects on Elizabeth. Still, she did not withdraw from humanity and isolate herself in self defense, she did not look upon everyone with suspicion and treat everyone with a guarded demeanor, quite the opposite… Wounded Elizabeth chose to reach out, to embrace and heal the broken world around her.

We’re told that she was intelligent, that she had a mind of her own and the inner drive to see her goals accomplished, that she let no one stand in her way.

Elizabeth wasn’t one who cared much about what other people thought of her either, she wasn’t going to be intimidated or cowed into submission by the disapproval of others. For example, Elizabeth refused to wear formal dress or embroidered gloves to Mass. Instead, she wore simple, plain and unadorned clothing. I’d like to think that she did this because she didn’t want the poor to feel shamed for their poor clothing, she didn’t want them to feel too ashamed to come to Church. But the truth is, I don’t know if the poor were permitted to worship with the wealthy? So, I don’t know why Elizabeth did this, except that she felt that “embroidered sleeves and embroidered gloves were unnecessary and gaudy luxuries” so, she dressed plainly. The other royalty, the nobility and members of the court saw this as a rebuke to them and they were quite offended, they became hostile toward Elizabeth. But she never changed, she continued to go her own way and do what she thought was right… Other than this, Elizabeth practiced giving alms to the poor, penance and prayer vigils.

At the age of 14 Elizabeth was considered an adult and was given in marriage to the 21 year old King Ludwig. In Ludwig Elizabeth found a true soul-mate, in him she found love that she could trust and love that would not only heal her but which would empower her to become a force for healing a hurting kingdom. King Ludwig, we are told; “gave his protection to Elizabeth’s acts of charity, her acts of penance and vigils.” When he traveled away on business, he left Elizabeth in control of the finances and she worked wonders with them.

Then the Kingdom of Thuringia was beset by floods and pestilence…

You know? I love today’s Psalm so much, I’d like for us to read it again, together, as this was the cry of Elizabeth’s people, when they’d been devastated by floods and pestilence, had lost their crops, lost their homes, lost everything.


Psalm 109:20–25     
20 But you, O Lord my God,
oh, deal with me according to your Name; *
for your tender mercy’s sake, deliver me.
21 For I am poor and needy, *
and my heart is wounded within me.
22 I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *
I am shaken off like a locust.
23 My knees are weak through fasting, *
and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.
24 I have become a reproach to them; *
they see and shake their heads.
25 Help me, O Lord my God; *
save me for your mercy’s sake.

When her people lost everything, Elizabeth was the answer to their prayers, she heard their cries and responded with great compassion. She opened the royal granaries and fed the people. We’re told that she clothed the naked, even giving them royal robes when there was nothing else to give them. She had a hospital built and every day she tended to the needs of the patients herself… This is amazing! Most royal homes would’ve barred the door, filled the moat and put guards in the towers to protect their food and resources. But Elizabeth opened the doors, she opened her arms and she gave everything, even the clothing from her own closet. In so doing, she set the example for each one of her people to follow, set the tone of cooperation for Thuringia’s recovery. If she had shut the doors of the castle and set armed guards against the people – the people would likely have treated one another that same way and Thuringia would have experienced more devastation, rather than recovery.
Our reading from 2 Corinthians says something interesting. St. Paul writes; “I’m trying to find out how REAl your own love is.” He’s saying actions speak louder than words and Paul then points to the example of Christ “who made himself poor for your sake.”… This is what Elizabeth did, not only financially, but mentally, emotionally and physically. She poured her very self out for the love of her people, esp. in her work at the hospital; feeding them, bathing them, binding their wounds. Elizabeth’s love was REAl.



Elizabeth and Ludwig were married for 6 years and had 3 children. Then, in the 6th year of their marriage, Ludwig died of illness while on the road to war. Elizabeth was devastated. When she heard the news, she was heard to cry; “All the joys in this life are dead to me now!”

She was 20 years old, mother of 3 and a widow – without protection now, in a court that was hostile toward her and her great acts of charity.
Immediately, Elizabeth’s family wanted to arrange another politically expedient marriage. But Elizabeth refused remarriage. Again, she didn’t care what other people thought, she had to do what she thought was right… She could not, however, remain in Warburg. Heinrich, Ludwig’s brother, had come to power and he was cruel to Elizabeth. He promised to give her shelter and enough food for each day, period. Nothing more. He refused to provide her money to give to charity, or to protect her charitable work.

Elizabeth, we are told, left Warburg “for moral reasons”. She took refuge with the Franciscans in Marburg and became the first member of the Franciscan Tertiaries. She was moved to have a Franciscan monastery built and again, to have a hospital built. She became a nurse there, tending to the needs of the patients herself. Again, Elizabeth was reaching out to heal the world… But that work was cut short when she died, just 4 years later at the age of 24.

Death was not the end of Elizabeth’s work. Almost immediately, miracles began to be reported at her grave in the hospital’s chapel, especially miracles of healing. Her grave became a popular destination for pilgrimages, so popular that it could be compared to the Shrine of Santiago de Compostela. Dear Elizabeth continues to be loved and continues to reach out in love even today.

Our reading from the gospel of luke tells us to “love our enemies”, to be children of the Most High God, who is good to everyone… And in 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us; “On with it then, finish the job! …it is only fair that you should help those who are in need. And rest assured, God will accept your gift on the basis of your eagerness to give. He will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give not on what you don’t have.”

You don’t have to be a King or Queen, you don’t have to be celebrity, you don’t have to win the lottery and build hospitals to be a Saint. It’s not about your wallet. It’s about your heart and your efforts, the work of your own hands…

One of the most moving stories of love, healing and charity that I’ve ever heard came out of a concentration camp during World War II. A Jewish lady said; “We were starved, reduced to skin and bones. One day, my friend came to me with a gift. In her hand was a leaf and on it, a single blackberry. It was so good!”… A single blackberry can heal the world. Go be love!