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Ode to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Elisabeth - means House of God,-
a name of Hebrew root,
Sweet Patron Saint,- to her this Ode,
who was so great and good
Her father, a proud sovereign, -
the king of Hungary,
Who wished close bonds to entertain,
with a margrave of Germany.
Thuringia’s youthful margrave wooed,
for the dainty child bride’s hand,
And soon they took Elisabeth
in her cradle to German land.
There she grew up, and then was wed,.
and the Wartburg became her domain,
And the paupers waited to be fed
by the merciful chatelaine
They flocked to her from near and far,
by boat and overland,
The needy clung to their shining star,
with the giving, generous hand.
She comforted the desperate,
the sick and the destitute
They all turned to Elisabeth,-
while the rulers played the lute.
Into roses turned her hidden bread,
bright roses red and gold,
When she was asked to demonstrate,
what she hid in her garment’s fold.
Yet daily she made her quick descent
from the Wartburg’s crest on high,
Bread in her apron, bread in her hand,
while the hungry crowd drew nigh.
When famine struck, Elisabeth,
baked bread by day and night-
But when she clan and kinfolk met,
she saw their hate and spite;
Her loving spouse, the margrave died
in a Holy Land Crusade
And the clan was free to vent their spite,
and to drive her from her estate.
.
To live with her children in a sty,
for pigs,till a shocked prelate
Embarrassed by the affront stood by
to protect her from ill and hate.
Hereafter the princess took the veil,
of the poet Assisian-
St. Francis, in an Umbrian dale,
who taught her his Hymn to the Sun.
She served the poor until her end,
while scorned by;those she had fed
And bit with disdain the loving hand
that had nursed them and clad and fed.
But on her deathbed her countenance,
brought her nurses to their knee,
So great and bright her radiance
and luminosity.
Three European countries vie
to proclaim her their patroness
And in devoted affection cry:
“Hail Saint Elisabeth!”
St.Elisabeth is Patroness of Hungary, Austria and Germany.
Many visitors and tourists still visit daily the Wartburg
near the Thuringian forest) by the city of Eisenach where I went to school for 2 yearsa.
In the days of my childhood we had no school, and great festivities in her honor all over the country.
Her Feast on the RC calendar is Nov. 17.formerly Nov.19th
(She is likewise universal patroness of all Franciscan Tertiaries (Lay members of St. Francis' Third Order)
The graphic shows St. Elizabeth meeting St. Francis together with King St. Louis of France, - both Saints are Franciscan Tertiaries)
In French Canada most hospitals or houses for the homeless have the name "Maison de St. Elisabeth" or "Maison de St. Luis".
