Born a princess in 1207, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was surrounded by an extravagant life of excess, which made her very uncomfortable. As a young bride of Ludwig, a prince of the German principality Thuringia, she observed the extreme differences between the luxury in which she lived and the poverty and suffering beyond her castle’s walls.
While at church on the feast of the Assumption, Elizabeth removed her crown from her head, placing it in front of the crucifix, saying, “How can I, a wretched creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?”
With this deep compassion for those perceived as less fortunate than her, she dedicated her short life to helping those who had nowhere else to turn. When famine hit her kingdom, Elizabeth spent her wedding dowry on food to feed the hungry, reportedly feeding more than 1,000 people daily. When sick and elderly persons were unable to travel the rocky and steep path to her castle to receive care, she provided money for a hospital to be built at the castle’s gates. She visited the patients daily, attending to their needs.
The ideals of St. Francis appealed to her—chastity, humility, patience, prayer, and charity—and after her husband’s death, Elizabeth became a Franciscan of the Third Order. She devoted herself entirely to caring for the sick—specifically those with debilitating and disfiguring diseases.
Following her death at age 24, miracles were reported to occur at her gravesite, especially healing miracles. Considered “the greatest woman of the German Middle Ages,” she was canonized just four years after her death.
Despite coming from very different backgrounds, Blessed Alphonse Maria Eppinger was drawn to St. Elizabeth of Hungary and considered her a patron saint of the Congregation, along with St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Alphonsus Liguori.
A Franciscan of the Third Order like St. Elizabeth, Blessed Alphonse Maria recognized the visitation of Jesus within the poor persons she cared for. Both women demonstrated a deep commitment to a life of prayer and simplicity from an early age.
Today, the Sisters of the Redeemer continue Blessed Alphonse Maria’s devotion to St. Elizabeth, with their Constitution stating, “We honor St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who imitated Christ’s own merciful love for his sisters and brothers, especially the weakest and poorest, the forgotten and the lonely. We try to live according to the Beatitudes as she did. The courage and love, with which Elizabeth followed Christ until her death, gives us the strength to bear personal difficulties in own lives.”
The Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary is celebrated on November 17.