St. Elizabeth of Hungary
1207-1231, Patron of Secular Franciscan Order (3rd Order) - Feast Day: Nov. 17
Elizabeth was born at a time when it was still the practice
that parents decided whom their children should marry. By today's standards it
seems atrocious that the fate of a child should be decided at age 3 - before the
child was even capable of understanding what a spousal relationship meant. That
is exactly what happen to Elizabeth, she was to be raised in the castle of her
future husband, Louis, also still a child.
Elizabeth was a lovely child and as she matured she was known
for her charity to the poor and the needy. Louis, recognized what a generous
girl Elizabeth had become, really wanted to marry Elizabeth and when they were
18, they were married. The marriage was a happy one. Elizabeth built a large
hospital where she daily fed nine hundred people. That in itself was a very
large accomplishment. She gave herself totally to the work, and while Louis was
away, she took over the regency of the area. In her spare time she tended to the
poor, especially the lepers.
Elizabeth was no stranger to suffering. The crusade to the
Holy Land began in 1227 and Louis also went, but on the way, still in Italy, he
died. Louis' brothers rose up against Elizabeth upon the news of his death, and
Elizabeth was driven out of the palace. She was really not welcome anywhere. She
was destitute and homeless with four children, the youngest being just two
months old. Finally, after much searching for a place to stay, she was offered
shelter in a stable. Elizabeth prayed in gratitude, recalling how Jesus Christ
came down to Bethlehem only to find a stable. The only work she found was to
spin flax and even from that she saved some money for the poor.
Turning down a proposal of marriage by Emperor Frederick II,
she eventually settled in Marburg in a small house near a Franciscan Church. She
joined the Third Order of St. Francis and built a hospice for the poor and sick
at Marburg. In those days, Third Order members wore a habit and cord. When only
24 years old, in Marburg, Elizabeth died from disease or fatigue. She was
canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1235. Her body can still be seen today in
Marburg in a beautiful gold shrine. Some of the bones found their way to other
places, but some are still in the beautiful gothic St. Elizabeth Church at
Marburg which is now a protestant church. Pope Leo XIII named her patroness of
all charitable organizations of women. We are honored to have her as a Patron to
the Secular Franciscan Order.
