Commemoration of Elizabeth of Hungary
Monday, November 19, 2012
The Lord be with you
Elizabeth, the daughter of
King Andrew of Hungary and his wife Gertrude, was born in the summer of
1207 in Pressburg, Hungary. In order to seal a political alliance, she was
betrothed at the age of one to Ludwig, the young son of the Landgrave of
Thuringia, and when she was four she was taken to the castle of the Wartburg
near Eisenach to be raised with her future husband. (You may
remember that the Wartburg was the castle where Luther was hidden several
centuries later and where he translated the New Testament into German.) Elizabeth was a serious child, generous to those who had less
than she had, and a devout Christian. Some of the people at the Thuringian
court disapproved of her as the future duchess, but Ludwig was very fond of
her.
In 1216 Ludwig succeeded
his father as Landgrave, and in 1221 when he was twenty-one and Elizabeth was fourteen, the marriage took place. In the
course of the next few years they had three children, a boy and two girls, and
the marriage was a happy one. Elizabeth in her new position was even more generous to the
poor. On one occasion in 1225, when there was a severe local famine, she gave
away most of her own fortune and supply of grain to the poor of the area. She
was criticized for doing this, but her husband upon his return gave his
approval to her action.
Elizabeth founded two hospitals during this period, one at
the foot of the steep rock on which the Wartburg was located. She regularly
tended the patients in these hospitals herself and gave money for the care of
children, especially orphans. In helping the poor, she and her husband also
tried to find suitable jobs for those who had no way of earning a living. In
1221, when the Franciscans entered Thuringian, Elizabeth put herself under the spiritual direction of
Brother Rodeger, who guided her in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. Her
kindness extended to all kinds of unfortunate people, and there is a well-known
story of her lodging a leper in the house. The Landgrave was startled and
repelled to find him in their bed, but he almost immediately realized that in
helping the leper, his wife was serving the crucified Lord.
On September 11,
1227, Ludwig died of the
plague while on a journey to join a crusade. During that winter, Elizabeth left the castle—some accounts say that her
brother-in-law expelled her—and she went to live in Eisenach. (You may recall that Eisenach was Luther’s childhood home and the birthplace of
Johann Sebastian Bach.) She was rejected by the townspeople and suffered great
hardship until she received the protection of her uncle the Bishop of Bamberg.
On Good Friday 1228, she formally renounced her worldly cares, adopted coarse
garments for clothing, and devoted herself as a follower of St. Francis. After
the care of her children was assured, she built a small house near Marburg and with it a hospice for the sick, the aged, and
the poor, and devoted her life to their care.
In her last years St.
Elizabeth lived a life of unnatural austerity and isolation from her friends,
partly out of obedience to her confessor, Conrad of Marburg, who seems to have
been almost sadistic in his treatment of her. Her health broke, and on November 17,
1231, she died, at the age
of twenty-four. Four years later the Church began annual commemoration of her. Elizabeth was buried in Marburg.
She is known as both St.
Elizabeth of Thuringia and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Since her time countless hospitals have been named
for her in Europe, America, and other parts of the World.
Collect for the Commemoration of Elizabeth of Hungary: Mighty King, whose inheritance is not of this
world, inspire in us the humility and benevolent charity of Elizabeth of
Hungary. She scorned her bejeweled crown with thoughts of the thorned one her
Savior donned for her sake and ours, that we, too, might live a life of
sacrifice, pleasing in Your sight and worthy of the name of Your Son, Christ
Jesus, who with the Holy Spirit reigns with You forever in the everlasting
kingdom. Amen.
Other things Elizabeth might
inspire you to pray about:
- For the poor
- For the sick and suffering
- For the unemployed
- For the spirit of self-sacrificing service
- For those who embrace austerity for the love of Christ
- For the medical profession
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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