Hello All!   
                   This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.   
                   The following press release is Copyrighted by the   
                             Vatican Information Service.   
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY: INTENSE LOVE FOR GOD AND NEIGHBOUR   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 20 OCT 2010 (VIS) - In the general audience, held this morning in   
   St. Peter's Square, the Pope dedicated his attention to St. Elizabeth of   
   Hungary who, he remarked, "is also known as Elizabeth of Thuringia".   
      
   The Holy Father explained how St. Elizabeth was born in the year 1207. She   
   lived the first four years of her life in the Hungarian royal court before   
   being promised in marriage to Ludwig of Thuringia. "Although their match was   
   decided for political reasons", said the Holy Father, "a sincere love arose   
   between the two young people, animated by faith and by their desire to do the   
   will of God".   
      
   Elizabeth, who "behaved before God as she behaved towards her subjects", is "a   
   true example for everyone who holds positions of leadership", said Pope   
   Benedict. "The exercise of authority at all levels must be practiced as a   
   service to justice and charity, in the constant search for the common good".   
      
   Having highlighted the fact that the saint "assiduously practiced works of   
   mercy", Benedict XVI spoke of the "profound happiness" of her marriage.   
   "Elizabeth helped her spouse to elevate his human qualities to a supernatural   
   level while he, for his part, protected his wife in her generosity towards the   
   poor and in her religious observances. ... This is clear testimony of how faith   
   and love for God and for others strengthen family life and make the marriage   
   bond even more profound".   
      
   Elizabeth found support in the Friars Minor, something which helped her "become   
   even more resolute in following the poor and crucified Christ, Who is present   
   in the poor".   
      
   Following her husband's death in 1227, Elizabeth "had to face another trial:   
   her brother-in-law usurped the government of Thuringia, declaring himself   
   Ludwig's heir and accusing Elizabeth of being a pious woman, incompetent to   
   rule. The young widow with her three children was driven from the castle of   
   Wartburg and had to look for refuge elsewhere. ... During this ordeal, which   
   she bore with great faith, patience and dedication to God, some relatives who   
   had remained faithful and considered her brother-in-law's government   
   illegitimate, re-established her good name. Thus, at the beginning of 1228,   
   Elizabeth was given a pension and retired to the family castle at Marburg".   
      
   The Holy Father indicated that "Elizabeth spent her last three years in the   
   hospital she founded, serving the sick and attending the dying. She always   
   sought the most humble and repugnant tasks. She became what we could call a   
   consecrated woman living in the world ('soror in saeculo') and formed a   
   religious community with a number of grey-clad companions. It is no coincidence   
   that she is patron of the Third Regular Order of St. Francis and of the Secular   
   Franciscan Order".   
      
   In November 1231 she fell into a high fever and died a few days later. "The   
   testimonies of her sanctity were so many that just four years later Pope   
   Gregory IX proclaimed her a saint. In the same year a beautiful church was   
   built in her honour at Marburg".   
      
   "In the figure of St. Elizabeth", Pope Benedict concluded his catechesis, "we   
   see how faith and friendship with Christ, create a sense of justice, of   
   universal equality, of the rights of others, and foment love and charity. From   
   this charity comes hope, the certainty that we are loved by Christ, that the   
   love of Christ awaits us, thus making us capable of imitating Christ and of   
   seeing Him in others".   
   AG/VIS 20101020 (580)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)