The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-11-18
ST. Elizabeth of Hungary.


Next Sunday. dear children, is the feast of St.
Elizabeth. Aunt Busy is devoted to her boys and
girls who read up in history, especially her altac
boys and sodaity girls. Here is little sketch of
St Elizabeth of Hungary, clipped from youths
paper published in Dayton, o..
St. Elizabeth, although i young and delicate
princess reared in the pomp of courts, devoted her
life as the servant and nurse of the poor. Her ex-
ample should teach to disregard the opinions of
the world, and to overcome natural repugnance,
in order to serve Jesus Christ, for as ST. Francis
of Sales assures u.s. "a tender love of neighbor
is OF the greatest and most excellent gifts that
the Divine Goodness bestows upon men,"
St. Elizabeth was the daughter of the king of
Hungary, and she was born in the year 1907. Her
parents were pious and charitable, and her aunt
was the noble St. Hedwige Duchess of Silesia, who
led a most austere and holy life in palace where
all pomp and royal state.
When Elizabeth was 4 years old she was be-
trothed to Louis son of the great and good Herman
Duke of Thuringia, a lad of II years, and the two
children were brought up together as brother and
sister. As long as the good duke lived he proved
kind friend to the little Elizabeth but when she
was years old the duke died and all was changed.
The mother and sister of Prince Louis were both
worldly women, and they treated Elizabeth with
great unkndness, and encouraged by the example
of the duchess, the ladies and courtiers of the
court ridiculed the young girl, but accepting all
this as cross she increased in piety and humility,
spending whole days IN prayers, and giving all she
had to the poor.
Prince Louis was very devoted to Elizabeth, and
she never left him without necessity, and when he
was absent from the court she laid aside her royal
robes ard lived in retirement. Gas the lily among
thorns" writes the Count De Montaembert, in his
beautiful Life of the Saint 'the innocent Elizabeth
buded and bloomed in the midst of bitterness, and
spread all around her the sweet and fragrant per-
fume of patience and humility.
10, IF h
coming of age, the young couple we're at last hap
pilv married. The young prince was in every re-
spect worthy of his beautiful bride and he ever
practiced the virtues of his fayorite motto 'Piety
chastity, justice towards all"
Once as St. Elizabeth was descending o steep
path from her castle to the town, carrying i'll the
folds Of her mantle bread and meat for the poor she
met her husband returning from the chase. The
duke gently opened the mantle to see what she was
trying to conceal and found in it the Most beautiful
red and white roses, although it was in the winter
season. He took one of the miraculous roses, and
carefully preserved it all his life
ST. Elizabeth was the first in Germany to join
the Third Order of ST. Francis Not content with
receiving daily numbers of the poor in her palace,
and relieving all in distress she built several hos
pitfalls where she personally served the sick dress
ing the most repulsive sores with her own hands
rince Louis went to the Holy Land with many
other noble rulers and knights to wrest Our Lords
sepulchre from the lnhdels, and III few months
was killed in battle. After his DEATH his brothers
who wished to rule in Thuringia, drove Elizabeth
and her children from the palace, penniless and
destitute.
She was forced to wander through the street
with her little children, prey to hunger and the
severe cold but she gladly welcomed all her suffer
ings for Christ's sake, and continued to be the
mother Of the poor, converting many by her pa
tence in affection and the example of her holy life
ffer time her husbands relatives renentad of
their cruelty and restored to her a part of her
wealth, but this St Elizabeth devoted wholly to
charity and practiced the virtues of holy poverty