Patroness of the Secular Franciscan Order
ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
(1207-1231)
Princess of Charity, Patroness of the Secular Franciscan Order
Birth & Family:
Elizabeth was born on July 7, 1207 in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (modern Bratislava, Slovakia). She was the daughter of King Andrew II and Gertrude of Merania. Her aunt was St. Hedwig.
Childhood & Marriage:
Betrothed at age 4 to Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, and raised at Wartburg Castle in Germany, she married at 14 in 1221 and deeply loved her husband. She had three children.
Life of Charity:
When Franciscan friars came to Germany in 1223, she learned St. Francis' ideals and began to live them. During famine, floods and plague in 1226, while Louis was away, she emptied the castle grain stores, sold her own clothes and jewels, and built a hospital below the castle where she personally washed and fed the sick. She wore simple clothes, went to Mass barefoot, removed her crown before the crucifix.
Her husband supported her, saying: "So long as she does not sell the castle, I am happy with her!"
The Miracle of Roses:
Her in-laws accused her of stealing castle goods for the poor. Once Louis stopped her and demanded to see what was hidden in her apron. When she opened the apron, the bread for the poor she had turned into roses.
She is the perfect example that true royalty is serving the poorest.
Widowhood & Death:
When Louis died in 1227 enroute to the Crusade, Elizabeth now widowed at 20, was driven out by her brother-in-law. She lost her dowry, sent her children away, and moved to Marburg. She used her remaining money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick until her death.
Elizabeth joined the Third Order of St. Francis in 1227 and lived in complete poverty.
She died on November 17, 1231 in Marburg at only 24 years old.
On May 27, 1235 in Perugia, Elizabeth was canonised by Pope Gregory IX, just 4 years after death, one of the fastest canonizations ever.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary’s feast is celebrated on November 17.
Patron of:
St. Elizabeth is the patron of: hospitals, nurses, bakers, brides, widows, homeless and the Third Order of St. Francis
Sayings of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
"How can I wear a crown of gold when my Lord wears a crown of thorns? And He wears it for me!" Elizabeth said when she took off her crown before the crucifix.
"We must help the poor with all our strength and not consider ourselves too good for this."
"I gave them my possessions, but I wish I could give them my very self."
When driven from Wartburg castle in winter with her children, with nothing left, she said: "We must accept all that God sends with joy, just as we thank Him for the good, we must thank Him for trials."
On her deathbed, smiling despite pain: "I am going home now. My work is finished."
"I want to die poor, with nothing, like my beloved Francis."
To her ladies who mocked her for serving lepers: "If you love Christ in the poor, you love Him truly."
"God gave me a kingdom to rule, so that I might learn to serve His kingdom."
When told she was wasting royal money: "The money of the poor belongs to the poor."
Her confessor Conrad of Marburg wrote: "She fed 900 people every day during the famine, and herself sat among them, cutting bread and feeding children."
St. Francis himself, hearing of her charity from afar, sent her a message: "You are our sister in Christ, for you do what we preach."