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Saints in Review
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Throughout the years Mary Ann Van Hoof was visited by many saints.
They were sent by Our Holy Mother to help her fulfill the Sacred Cause by
providing encouragement and information. Very often we find that their
lives while on earth paralleled the information or purpose for their appearance
to her.
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St. Elizabeth of Hungary
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Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of
Alexander II, King of Hungary and his German wife, Gertrude. In 1211 Landgrade Hermann I of Thuringia
arranged for a future marriage between his eldest son, Hermann, and four
year-old Elizabeth. Not long after,
Elizabeth went to Thuringia to be brought up with her future husband.
The Court of Thuringia was famous for its
magnificence. In spite of the purely
secular life of the Court, and the pomp of her surroundings, the little girl
grew up a very religious child with a very noticeable inclination to prayer,
pious observances, and small acts of self-mortification. These religious impulses were undoubtedly
strengthened by the sorrowful experiences of her life, such as: her mother’s
murder in 1213 by some Hungarian nobles out of hatred of the Germans; the death
of young Hermann in 1216, whom she was to marry; and the hostile rebuke from the
more frivolous members of the Court, who were critical of her piety. The King's second son, Ludwig, who was
seven years older than Elizabeth, often came to protect her from mistreatment.
King Hermann I's political plans got him in great
difficulties and reverses. He was excommunicated by the Church; and, was not
reconciled at the time of his death on April 25, 1217. He was then succeeded
by his son Ludwig IV, who, in 1221, was also made regent of Meissen and the East
Mark. During this same year Ludwig and Elizabeth were married; the groom being
twenty-one years old and the bride fourteen. The marriage was in every respect
a happy and exemplary one, as the couple were devotedly attached to each other.
Ludwig gave his protection to Elizabeth's acts of charity, penance, and her
vigils; and, often held her hands as she knelt praying at night beside his bed.
He was also a capable ruler and brave soldier. The Germans called him St.
Ludwig, a tribute given to him as one of the best men of his age; and, the pious
husband of Elizabeth.
Shortly after their marriage, Elizabeth and Ludwig
made a journey to Hungary. After this visit, Ludwig was often called upon to
assist Emperor Frederick II of Hungary because of the friendship that
developed. In 1226, when Ludwig was in Italy attending the Diet at Cremona on
behalf of the Emperor, Elizabeth assumed control of affairs and distributed alms
in all parts of the territory of her husband, giving even state robes and
ornaments to the poor. In order to care personally for the unfortunate, she
built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend
to theirs needs; while, at the same time aided nine hundred of the poor each
day. Ludwig, on his return approved, of all that she had done.
The next year, Ludwig went with Emperor Frederick
II on a Crusade to Palestine, but died on September 11, 1227 from the pest. The news did not reach Elizabeth until
October, just after giving birth to their third child. On hearing the sad news, the twenty-one
year old Elizabeth cried out: “The world with all its joys is now dead to me!”
Earlier, in 1221 the followers of St. Francis made
their first permanent settlement in Germany; and, in 1226 Elizabeth met Brother
Rodeger, who for some time became a spiritual instructor of Elizabeth. After a while the post of Brother Rodeger
was filled by Master Conrad of Marburg, who belonged to no order. He was, however, well known as a preacher
of the crusade and also as a judge is cases of heresy. Pope Gregory IX, who wrote at times to
Elizabeth, recommended her to this God-fearing preacher.
After her husband Ludwig's death, Elizabeth found
the tender care needed for her children and looked to Conrad for growth in her
road to sanctity. Conrad treated Elizabeth with severity: nevertheless, he
brought her with a firm hand by the road of self-mortification to the sanctity
she was seeking. He forebade her to follow St. Francis in complete poverty as a
beggar; yet, on the other hand, by the command to keep her dower, she was
enabled to perform works of charity and tenderness.
The Bishop of Bamberg, Elizabeth's uncle, was intent on arranging another marriage for her;
however, during the lifetime of her husband she had made a vow of continence in
case of his death. While Elizabeth was maintaining her position against her
uncle, the remains of her husband were brought to Bamberg by his faithful
followers. Weeping bitterly, she buried the body in the family vault of the
landgraves of Thuringia in the monastery of Reinhardsbrunn. With the aid of
Conrad, Elizabeth now received the value of her dower in money, namely two
thousand marks; of this sum, she divided five hundred marks in one day among the
poor.
On Good Friday in 1228, Elizabeth formally renounced the world in the
Franciscan house at Eisenach; then, going to Master Conrad at Marburg, she and
her maids received from him the dress of the Third Order of St. Francis. In the summer of 1228 she built the
Franciscan hospital at Marburg; and, upon its completion devoted herself
entirely to the care of the sick, especially to those afflicted with the most
loathsome diseases.
Still maintaining her many self-mortifications and
spiritual renunciations, Elizabeth was constant in her devotion to God by her
charitable labors. She passed away
at the age of twenty-four, a time when life to most human beings is just
opening.
Very soon after the death of Elizabeth, miracles of healing began to be worked at her grave in the
church of the hospital. Master Conrad showed great zeal in advancing the
process of canonization. By papal command three examinations were held of
those who had been healed: namely, in August, 1232; January, 1233; and January,
1235. However, before the process reached its end, Conrad was murdered on
July 30, 1233.
On Pentecost, May 28, 1235, the solemn ceremony of canonization of the “greatest woman of
the German Middle Ages” was celebrated by Pope Gregory IX at Perugia. Later in August of 1235, the
corner-stone of the beautiful Gothic church of St. Elizabeth was laid at
Marburg; then on May 1, 1236 Emperor Frederick II attended the taking-up of the
body of the saint; and, finally in 1249 her remains were placed in the choir of
the church of St. Elizabeth which was formally consecrated in 1283.
The Feast Day of St. Elizabeth is observed in the Catholic Church on November 17th.
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