Elizabeth was a princess of Hungary. When she was fourteen she married Louis a young Prince who soon became king. She was a very good wife and mother to her children.
Elizabeth was very compassionate and was very kind to the poor and sick. Her castle stood on a steep rock, she built a hospital at the foot of the mountain. There she fed the poor and the sick daily and attended to their needs. They loved her and called her "Dear St. Elizabeth."
When the ladies of the castle tried to keep her from going to help the poor, she said, "I am preparing for my judgment. I want to be able to say to Jesus: Jesus, when You were hungry, I gave You food to eat; when You had nothing to put on, I clothed You; when You were sick, I visited You, because You said that in doing these things for the poor, I did them for You. I beg you to be kind to me."
One day Elizabeth was carrying bread for the poor in her cloak. Her husband met her and told her what she was doing was not the work the queen should be doing. He pulled open the cloak and out fell red and white roses not the food. The king begged her forgiveness, he knew that she was indeed a Saint.
Elizabeth’s husband died when she was very young leaving her with four children. The next king treated Elizabeth very badly and threw her out of the palace. She joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and spent the rest of her life caring for the poor in a hospital. Elizabeth died when she was twenty-four.
Saint Elizabeth saw Jesus in the poor and served them. From her example may we learn to see Jesus in the sick and poor and serve them.
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