St. Elizabeth was a young woman who certainly packed a lot of life into her own short life. She was of royal blood being the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and his wife Gertrude. When she was only four years old she was taken to live in the courts of her future husband at Thuringia. In many ways hers was a great love story. Betrothed to the eldest son, Hermann, who died before they could marry. Elizabeth was then betrothed to the younger son Ludwig. They had a deep devotion to each other and Ludwig often stepped in to protect her acts of charity and penance. It is noted that he often held her hand as she knelt beside his bed praying her evening prayers. Ludwig had succeeded his father to the throne and was known to be a capable ruler and brave solider even though he himself was only 21 when they married and she was fourteen.
They had three children: Hermann II (1222-41), who died young; Sophia (1224-84) and Gertrude (1227-97).
Shortly after their marriage, while her husband was away in Italy, floods, famine, and the pest wrought havoc in Thuringia, Elizabeth assumed control of affairs in her husbands absence and distributed alms to all those in need. She even gave away state robes and ornaments to the poor.
In order to care personally for the unfortunate, she built below the castle where they lived a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to their wants; at the same time she aided nine hundred poor daily by distributing bread to those who were hungry. It is this period of her life that has preserved Elizabeth's fame to posterity as a gentle and charitable woman. When Ludwig returned he confirmed all she had done. The next year (1227) Ludwig left for the crusades with the Emperor Frederick II but died, on the 11th of September at Otranto, from a disease. The news did not reach Elizabeth until October, just after she had given birth to her third child. On hearing the tidings Elizabeth, who was only twenty years old, cried out: "The world with all its joys is now dead to me."
Elizabeth vowed to never remarry much to the dismay of her family and she began to live a life similar to a nun, despite pressure from her relatives.
The order of St. Francis had a huge influence on Elizabeth and at this time Elizabeth had a spiritual advisor, Master Conrad of Marburg. He was a tough man and his treatment of her was very strict and harsh and though he would not allow her to live in complete poverty as the Franciscans did he did not allow her to live with the excesses of court life either.
It is unsure wether Elizabeth left the courts voluntarily or as some say she was driven out by her brother in law, but whichever it was Elizabeth eventually joined the Third Order of the Franciscans. Here she continued to devote herself to caring for the poor and sick. With the help of Conrad Elizabeth was able to build a hospital where she spent the last few years of her life caring for those who needed her most. She died at the age of twenty four.
There are many miracles attributed to St. Elizabeth, but one of her greatest known miracles occurred when she was still alive. Known as the miracle of roses. It is said that on one of her many trips delivering bread to the poor, Ludwig met with her and asked her questions about her errand because there were those at the castle who were suspicious that she was stealing treasures from the castle. He asked her to reveal the contents under her cloak, when she did so a vision of white and red roses was seen. To Ludwig, this meant God's protection was evident.
On another occasion Elizabeth took a leper and placed him in the bed she shared with her husband. Her mother-in-law discovered what Elizabeth had done and feeling enraged, she informed Ludwig. Annoyed with the situation, Ludwig removed the bedclothes and instantly the "Almighty God opened the eyes of his soul, and instead of a leper he saw the figure of Christ crucified stretched upon the bed." Needless to say he did not reprimand Elizabeth.
After her death many more miracles were investigated and along with the testimonies of her companions, including her Spiritual Director, Master Conrad, she was canonized in 1235.
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