About Elisabethkirche (Church of Saint Elizabeth) Marburg:
The Church, as the name implies, contains the tomb of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
About Saint Elizabeth of Hungary:
Born July 7, 1207, Elizabeth was the daughter of the King of Hungary. She was married to Louis of Thuringia at the age of 14. It turned out to be a marriage based on love, not always the case in these circumstances. From all we know, she deeply loved her husband and bore three children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice, and service to the poor and sick. She wore simple clothing rather than royal clothing, in imitation of the poor. She would personally take bread to the poor who showed up at the gate to the castle.
After six years of marriage, her husband died in the Crusades. Grief-stricken, she found that her husband’s family looked upon her efforts toward the poor as squandering the royal purse They mistreated her and finally threw her out of the palace; however, when her husband’s allies from the Crusades returned, she was reinstated, since her son was legal heir to the throne.
In her short life, Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order., Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe.
In 1228, Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Elizabeth’s health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday November 17, 1231.
Her great popularity resulted in her canonization by Pope Gregory IX on May 28 1235 (Penetecost), a short four years later after her death. She was called the “greatest woman of the German Middle Ages”.
We celebrate the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary on November 17,
Traveling to Elisabethkirche (Church of Saint Elizabeth) in Marburg, Germany:
Address: Elisabethstraße 3, 35037 Marburg, Germany
Tel: +49 06421-65573
Email: kuesterstube@elisabethkirche.de
Click here for the official website of Elisabethkirche Marburg in Marburg, Germany