She was the daughter of Alexander II who was the King of Hungary. Her mother-in-law, who was horrified, told this immediately to Ludwig on his return. From her support of the friars sent to Thuringia, she was made known to the founder, St Francis of Assisi, who sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226. In that moment, her cloak fell open and a vision of white and red roses could be seen, which proved to Ludwig that God's protecting hand was at work.[21]. Required fields are marked *. She married Prince Louis of Thuringa at age 13. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave good, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954. Your email address will not be published. Built a hospital at the foot of the mountain on which her castle stood; tended to the sick herself. A portion of her relics were kept in the church of the Carmelites at Brussels; another in the magnificent chapel of La Roche-Guyon, upon the Seine, and a considerable part in a precious shrine is in the electoral treasury of Hanover.[25]. Here in the town she built a hospice where she gathered together the weak and the feeble. She is the patron saint of widows, young brides, nursing services, bakers, the falsely accused, and tertiaries. Below Wartburg Castle, she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to them. It is to me as if the whole world died today. The marriage, which occurred when Louis succeeded his father in 1221, proved to be ideal but brief. The marriage implied assistance and military cooperation between Hungary and Thüringen. This page was last edited on 18 November 2020, at 06:53. Upon hearing the news of her husband's death, Elizabeth reportedly said, "He is dead. Konrad's treatment of Elizabeth was extremely harsh, and he held her to standards of behavior which were almost impossible to meet. The results of those examinations was supplemented by a brief vita of the saint-to-be, and together with the testimony of Elizabeth's handmaidens and companions (bound in a booklet called the Libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum s. Elizabeth confectus), proved sufficient reason for quick canonization. Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. The yearlong observance of the centennial which began on her feast day in 2007 was closed at the General Chapter of the Order, held in Budapest in 2008. But three hundred years after her death, one of Elizabeth's many descendants, the Landgrave Philip I "the Magnanimous" of Hesse, a leader of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important supporters of Martin Luther, raided the church in Marburg and demanded that the Teutonic Order hand over Elizabeth's bones, in order to disperse her relics and thus put an end to the already declining pilgrimages to Marburg. Married at age 14 to Louis of Thuringia, both spouses tried to lead virtuous lives. According to tradition, she was born in Hungary, possibly in the castle of Sárospatak (discussed below), on 7 July 1207. Saint Elizabeth is often depicted holding a basket of bread, or some other sort of food or beverage, characteristic of her devotion to the poor and hungry. Finally, when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection; filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from door to door. Hers is one of many miracles that associate Christian saints with roses. On the suggestion of Konrad, and by papal command, examinations were held of those who had been healed between August 1232 and January 1235. These vows included celibacy, as well as complete obedience to Konrad as her confessor and spiritual director. "[16] His remains were returned to Elizabeth in 1228 and entombed at the Abbey of Reinhardsbrunn. She was promised in marriage to the infant prince. [14] Louis was not upset by his wife's charitable efforts, believing that the distribution of his wealth to the poor would bring eternal reward; he is venerated in Thuringia as a saint, though he was never canonized by the Church.[15]. The New York region of the Order produced a movie of her life, produced by a sister of the Order, Lori Pieper. "[21] This story also appears in Franz Liszt's oratorio about Elizabeth. – from a letter by Conrad of Marburg, spiritual director of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Patroness of the Third Order, Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints, Poverty, My Riches: A Life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, The Life of Saint Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, The Life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, by A Secular, The Story of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, by William Canton. Another story told of Elizabeth, also found in Dietrich of Apolda's Vita, relates how she laid the leper Helias of Eisenach in the bed she shared with her husband. [6] Her ancestry included many notable figures of European royalty, going back as far as Vladimir the Great of the Kievan Rus. [18], Elizabeth built a hospital at Marburg for the poor and the sick with the money from her dowry, where she and her companions cared for them. In 1231, Elizabeth died in Marburg at the age of twenty-four. on 16 July 1938 Czechoslovakia issued a stamp in her honor showing the St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice. There were also religious ceremonies held worldwide during that period. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of the poor. She renounced worldly pursuits becoming a lay member of the order of St. Francis. [8] After her husband's death she sent her children away and regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. At age 4, Elizabeth, with a large dowry, was sent to live with Hermann and his family at Wartburg Castle in … on 1 August 1944 one postage stamp was issued;[32] In the spring of 1226, when floods, famine, and plague wrought havoc in Thuringia, Louis, a staunch supporter of the Hohenstaufen Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, represented Frederick II at the Imperial Diet held in Cremona. After bitter arguments over the disposal of her dowry — a conflict in which Konrad was appointed as the official Defender of her case by Pope Gregory IX — Elizabeth left the court at Wartburg and moved to Marburg in Hesse.