11121981 JPII Letter 750 anniversary Death Saint Elizabeth
LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
TO THE CHURCH WHICH IS IN HUNGARY
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 750TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DEATH OF SAINT ISABEL
Erm. Cardinal László Lékai, Archbishop of Esztergom,
Hon. archbishops and bishops,
priests, men and women religious,
and beloved faithful all of Hungary:
It is with great joy that I once again address you, dear Hungarian brothers and sisters, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the blessed death of Saint Elizabeth of the Arpad dynasty, admirable daughter of the Hungarian nation and Church. I wish, therefore, to make myself spiritually present among you in Sarospataka, probable place of his birth, where these days and this year many pilgrims honor the perfumed flower that sprouted from the dynasty of Saint Stephen.
By singing the "life of Doña Isabel" and remembering her "many good deeds", you evoke the splendid figure of a young woman and mother who lived barely twenty-four years. With you, I also observe the little girl Elizabeth, with a lively character, who from her mother, tragically, learned to love Jesus and Mary. We soon see her in Thuringia, at the Wartburg castle, famous for the Minnesingers, where she wins over everyone around her with her dynamism and unprejudiced love. He only wanted to fulfill the will of Christ; the love of Christ radiated from his person. Before the Crucifix he took off his crown saying: "How could I wear a golden crown when the Lord wears it with thorns? And He wears it for me!"
His life is carried out in love with Count Luis. Isabel, barely 14 years old, and Luis, 21, loved each other in God and helped each other to love God more and more. They accepted with deep gratitude God's gift of new life. Who could remain indifferent before the overwhelming joy of a 15-year-old mother and before the immense love of Luis and Isabel?
Urged by the love of Christ, the young mother visits the poor, sick and abandoned children. If Saint Paul became everything for everyone to save everyone, Elizabeth became the mother of all to share with them the Good News of Christ. In the great Wartburg castle there was a large house in which he housed many sick people. Consoling them and talking to them about patience and the salvation of the soul, he satisfied the desire of each one, both for drink and food, even selling his ornaments to feed them. In her house she had many young servants whom she attended so well and treated so sweetly and benignly with her that they called her mother and ran to her when they entered the house. Among them he especially loved the roughest, the sick, weak and deformed, he took their heads in his hands and brought them close to his heart (De dictis quattuor ancillarum, cap. II, 771 et seq.).
The secret of tireless joy and service is revealed to her maids: "What a great fortune for us to be able to wash the Lord and prepare the bed for Him." Like Saint Francis, his model, he was not afraid of lepers and considered it a privilege to care for them. Isabel and Luis saw, with the gaze of the soul, Christ in each sick person.
With her eyes wide open, Isabel observed the wounds caused by social injustices. In times of famine, he opened the county pantries to satisfy the hunger of the poor, who had come from distant lands, and at the same time he provided them with work. Overcoming the barriers of her time, she worked herself while educating her children and attending to the duties of her position. The joy in his heart was never extinguished; he gave with evangelical joy: "We must give everything we have with joy and pleasure".
In Elizabeth we must also see the strong woman of the Bible, whom suffering does not break, but makes her participate in the Paschal mystery. When she was expecting her second child, Elizabeth had to fight hard to allow her husband to go on the Holy Land Crusade. Spouses who love each other, pray and find strength in prayer to accept God's will. In symbol of their spousal union, they offered, with the same will to the service of God, the son that was to be born. This young mother of three children, at the age of twenty, lost her faithful husband in a few weeks and, at the same time, her relatives stripped her of material goods. Convinced that according to her conscience she could not continue living in the Wartburg castle, Isabel leaves it by her own decision and entrusts her future and that of her children to God. He wanted to imitate Christ who "took the form of a servant...he humbled himself, became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2, 7-8); then she discovered, in the light of grace, that the blessed moment of "kenosis" had also arrived for her. Disinherited and abandoned, she sings a jubilant Te Deum. "Stripped of everything temporal, tormented in many parts of the body, she followed Christ waiting for him not from afar with the other women, but feeling closely that the sword of tribulation pierced her soul" (De dictis..., prol. 80-84).
Having prudently secured the future of his children, he wears the simple gray sackcloth of San Francisco; On Good Friday, she solemnly renounces her will and begins to live exclusively for prayer and the service of her neighbor, as a Franciscan tertiary, the first in German lands.
The sick and desperate flocked to her in great numbers, and she —living unceasingly in the presence of God— restored God's health and peace to many. "You see, I have told you, it is necessary to make men happy." After giving without reserve "his life for his friends" (Jn 15, 13), on his deathbed he said: "You must know that I have been very happy."
750 years ago, on the night of November 16-17, 1231, smiling with happiness, she went to meet her sister Death, who united her for all eternity with Christ and with her loved ones.
Barely four years had passed when Pope Gregory IX canonized the famous countess in 1235.
Dearest brothers and sisters of Hungary: Since then Saint Elisabeth has been a luminous torch for those who imitate Christ in the service of their neighbor. But first of all, he is a shining example for you, Hungarian Catholics of the 20th century; for you, young people; for you, spouses, messengers of God's love today.
I address you, young Catholics. Look at Elizabeth of Hungary and try to discover the mystery of her life. You will find Christ, whom you already know, but perhaps you do not love enough. Listen to the divine call that comes from the depths of your heart; be "rooted and grounded in charity" (Eph 3, 17). Have the courage to give your life to Christ and in Him to your brothers. "The poor you always have with you" (Jn 12, 8); look carefully around you; in the environment in which you live and in hospitals, family homes and charitable institutions, you will find an elderly brother, a sick person who is alone, an invalid rejected by his family, a sick person in body and mind; in them you can serve Christ; "How many times did you do this to one of these younger brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25, 40).
In order to accept this apostolic mission in the same spirit as Saint Elizabeth, you must deepen Your faith in Christ by assiduously using the means of grace offered by the Church. "Let Christ dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3, 17). Be representatives of the merciful love of the Father so that with your fellow believers and with those who are seeking in God the meaning of their existence "you may understand, together with all the saints, what is the breadth, length, height and depth and know the charity of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph 3, 18-19).
In this jubilee year, you spouses, mothers and fathers of families, meditate on the family life full of happiness of Saint Elizabeth. Be close to one another with unwavering fidelity. Convince yourselves that love for God and consistent Christian life are not only not an obstacle, but are an inexhaustible source of conjugal love. Sanctify each other, love each other imitating Christ. Remember that the people of Thuringia consider Louis to be a saint as well as Elizabeth. Pray together each day knowing that Christ is present among you. In Christ you can become what, by virtue of the sacrament of marriage, you must be: one body and one soul. Accept with gratitude the most beautiful gift of the Creator: the gift of life, which is sacred from the first moment of conception. Transform your home into a domestic church, educate your children in the faith. "The catechetical action of the family has a particular character and, in a certain sense, is irreplaceable" (Catechesi tradendae, 68).
Sanctify your children, teach them to love Christ and his church and to serve the People of God selflessly. Root in yourselves the conviction that with the example of life and the transmission of faith, you give the best to your children. You may become the parents of future saints, for remember that Gertrude, Elizabeth's third daughter, is venerated as Blessed by the Premonstratensians. Maintain the intimacy of your domestic church, but at the same time open yourselves to the great task of building the kingdom of God. Be a center that radiates universal love.
Modern society urgently needs men and women clothed in Christ, who dedicate themselves to the service of others with joy and selflessness, and as mothers and fathers who embrace and help the poor of our times, in need of affection, understanding, faith and goods. material and spiritual. Have the conviction that you take an active part in the same apostolic mission of the Church.
All look at Saint Elisabeth, dear brothers and sisters of Hungary. Recognize in her the wonderful appeal of "God, rich in mercy" (Eph 2, 4). Be proud that Elizabeth, daughter of the Magyar land, is a saint known and loved throughout the world. She thought according to dimensions that surpass her time; With a brilliant heart, he intuited the unifying force of love and the deep demand of union. The truth of Christ made her free so that she could build the union between two peoples; to build a bridge between opposing social classes, to unite in itself various aspects of the ideal of holiness and, finally, to unite human hearts.
Ask, therefore, the intercession of the great Saint Elizabeth, a very active saint for your beloved nation, for the noble Hungarian people, for the union between peoples built on mutual love and respect.
"In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the spirit of his messianic mission, which remains in the history of humanity, let us raise our voices and pray that in this stage of history that love which is in the Father, and that through the work of the Son and the Holy Spirit be present in the contemporary world as stronger than evil, stronger than sin and death. Let us beg for the intercession of her who never ceases to proclaim "mercy from generation to generation", and also of those in whom the words of the Sermon on the Mount have been fulfilled to the end: "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy"» ( Dives in mercy, 15).
In order that the jubilee year of Saint Elizabeth be for all of you or a year of renewal that transforms your existence, beloved brothers and sisters of Hungary, I entrust you to the protection of the "Magna Domina Hungarorum" and I send you with special affection my apostolic blessing.
Next to San Pedro, November 12, 1981.
IOANNES PAULUS PP. II
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