Formation program for the Eighth Centenary of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Year One: The life of St. Elizabeth

Month 9. Elizabeth is driven from court

Elizabeth was not left alone with her grief for long, but soon experienced a violent upheaval in her life. As Isentrude, a witness at her canonization process, said: " After her husband's death, Elizabeth was ejected from the castle and all the possessions of her dower, by some of her husband's vassals."

The reason for this has never been completely explained, but the persecution was very likely due to Elizabeth's previously public shunning of the food gathered from the peasants by her husband's officials; she had as good as accused the of theft and corruption. Indeed, her actions had been widely criticized at court and among the Thuringian nobility. During her lifetime, Elizabeth had used the revenues from the land her husband had given her as a dower to provide herself with licit food. After his death, some of these officials perhaps decided to prevent Elisabeth from using that dower in reliation. Her brother-in-law, Heinrich, now ruling Thuringia as regent for Elizabeth and Ludwig's five-year-old son, may have been involved.

Historians have disagreed about whether Elizabeth was physically expelled from the castle; some have interpreted it as meaning that she felt morally compelled to leave because without that income fom her dower, she would have been compelled to violate her conscience by eating the forbidden food. But the first interpretation is more in line with the earliest sources.

After leaving the castle, Elizabeth spent the first night in a storage shed where pigs were kept. Perhaps out of fear of the officials, no one would give her and her children shelter. She eventually found a poor dwelling. She suffered privation, mockery and persecution from those of her own class, but she did not indulge in feelings of resentment. She knew uncertainty and fear about the future, but trusted in God.

A poor woman, to whom she had once given charity, pushed her into the mud, but she merely laughed and washed her clothes. It was during this time that she had a vision of Christ, who appeared to be inviting her to follow him. She replied: "So then, Lord, You want to be with me and I want to be with You and I never want to be separated from You."

Spiritual reflection:

Elizabeth followed the example of Jesus in returning evil with good:

"But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Lk. 6:27-28).

Elizabeth's experience of suffering was what brought her to Christ and to sharing His sufferings. Personal experience of poverty led her to a greater understanding of poverty as complete dependence on God and others.

Gospel: Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:10)