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Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary
Feast Day: November 17
Every person faces good times and bad. We see this truth in the life of
Elizabeth of Hungary. Born in 1207, Elizabeth married Ludwig, the king
of Hungary, when she was only fourteen. The two worked at their marriage.
They respected one another. They loved their three children.
As king, Ludwig ruled fairly. As queen, Elizabeth built two hospitals
to help her people. She washed and bandaged the sores of lepers. Each
day, she gave thick crusty bread—warm from the oven—to hundreds
of poor people.
Then Ludwig marched off to fight in the Crusades. (The Catholic Church
fought these wars to win back the Holy Land.) While away, he died of the
plague. Elizabeth, who was only twenty, was heartbroken.
Then the new king thought she had given too much of the kingdom’s
money to the poor, so he forced her to leave her castle and enter a convent.
She had to leave her children behind.
When Ludwig’s friends returned from the Crusades, they made the
new king change his mind. Elizabeth got to come home to the castle and
her children. But she lived for only a few more years.
On November 17, 1231, at the age of only twenty-three, Elizabeth died.
Money and fame had never been important to her. She treasured her husband,
her children, and God. That is why the Church honors her as a saint. Because
she gave so much life-giving bread to the hungry, Elizabeth is the patron
saint of bakers.
Connecting to Faith First®
Junior High, Liturgy and Morality, chapter 11
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