【Community Activities｜Ghost Moon Let the Horse Come Over】Rose Miracle

The topic of the previous post was being called by the Holy Spirit to guard your heart and do what you should do.

It's a pity that it didn't meet the theme of the essay XD, so I posted this article again.

This story is well known in Germany. Share with everyone.

In the winter of 1227/28, the once popular Countess Elizabeth reached the lowest point of her life. No one wanted to shelter her and her three children. The gates of wealthy citizens and clergymen were shut. Even the poor Elizabeth had helped scoff at the outcast aristocratic woman. When she finally had to move to an old pig house with her children, Elizabeth is said to have said bitterly: "I want to thank people, but I don't know why."

When Elisabeth was born in 1207, her father was King Andrew II of Hungary and her mother was from the influential Andhes-Mellanion family. Because of her birth, Elizabeth was seen as a political pawn in the power game of European dynasties. As was customary at the time, the princess moved in with her fiancé, Hermann's in Thuringia, when she was only four years old. There, the pious Countess Sophie took over the education of her future daughter-in-law.

However, the engagement did not go as planned. First, Elizabeth's mother became the victim of a political murder. Elisabeth's promised dowry payment became uncertain, and her status in Thuringia declined. Then, the Duke's eldest son, Elizabeth's fiancé, died unexpectedly. The voice grew louder and louder, and the court demanded that this useless child bride be sent back.

But by then, the duke's second son had already developed feelings for Elizabeth. In 1221, the young duke married a 14-year-old girl in Eisenach. It was a love marriage that was completely unusual at the time, and resulted in three children. Contrary to later legends, Ludwig, an otherwise unscrupulous powerful statesman, supported his wife's charitable ambitions, and in 1223 the couple jointly established a hospital in Gotha.

While caring for the poor was one of the traditional tasks of medieval monarchs, Elizabeth didn't just want to use her financial resources to give. She gave away her jewels more and more, only barely putting on that flamboyant robe for court occasions. She took care of leprosy children herself and even washed the face of the dead at the funeral, which was considered very indecent by those around her: Elizabeth should have behaved commensurately with her status and represented Thuringia as a mistress .

In 1226, the feared Crusader missionary and interrogator Konrad von Marburg entered the court. He became Elizabeth's spiritual leader and saw an opportunity for fame in the devout noblewoman. Strict priests drove Elizabeth into constant new ascetic practices. Soon the duke was the only person other than Conrad who still had any worthy influence over Elizabeth.

A year later, the duke had to fulfill his promise and take part in the Fifth Crusade. Shortly before leaving, Elizabeth, who was pregnant at the time, made a double vow: she promised to obey her spiritual leader as long as it did not affect her husband's rights. If she were a widow, she would remain celibate and even obey Conrad absolutely.

The Duke died in Italy on his way to Jerusalem. Conrad not only had unrestricted power over Elizabeth, but also over her property and her children. An open power struggle erupted when the Duchess began to distribute the remaining estate to the poor. To limit Conrad's influence, the duke's younger brother, Heinrich Raspe, took over the regency of Hermann, the minor heir to the throne, and deprived his sister-in-law of her widow's estate.

Heinrich was convinced that Elizabeth was no longer of sound mind. He only granted her the right to live and eat at the court. But since Conrad's strict conditions made it practically impossible for her to live there, Elizabeth left the castle with her closest servants. In the winter of 1227/28, she found herself on the streets with her children, who were soon sent to her.

Conrad continued to put pressure on Elizabeth -- under pressure, she isolated herself from her last friends, broke with her family, and abandoned her children. Elizabeth's relatives tried to mediate, taking her to her uncle, the Bishop, to marry her off in a way that suited her status. But she refused and fled back to her spiritual teacher.

The relationship between the young widow and the priest caused speculation at the time. In modern times, Elizabeth has even been accused of having a mental disorder. However, her way of life can only be explained by her era: the 13th century was a time of intensive search for God, which fought mercilessly against unjust property issues. One radical poverty movement after another emerged. While some were persecuted as heretics, others developed into religious orders such as the Franciscans and Dominicans still known today.

Elizabeth is also part of this tradition. After being compensated, she established a hospital outside the walls of Marlborough in 1228. The recently crowned Francis of Assisi was chosen as the patron saint. Like the famous founder of the Order, she wanted to follow Christ in absolute poverty and to serve him in the poorest of places.

Despite the physical work of caring for patients, Elizabeth was uncompromising and was brutally punished for the slightest mistake. She has a special love for pregnant women and children. On the night of November 16-17, 1231, Elizabeth was exhausted and died at the age of 24. Conrad pushed hard for her canonization, but he died two years after her, not alive to see the coronation of "his" life's work. Pope Gregory IX canonized Elizabeth in 1235. Her memorial day is November 19, the day she is buried.

According to the Catholic Almanac, the day of her burial is also known as Eilsabethtag.

The symbols of St. Elizabeth are rose baskets, bread baskets, fish bowls, beggars.

Saint Elisabeth is the patron saint of Thuringia and Hesse; the patron saint of widows and orphans, beggars, the sick, innocent persecuted and needy, bakers and lacemakers; the patron saint of the German Order (her husband Ludwig She is the patron saint of the Diocese of Erfurt, and she is the second patron saint of the Diocese of Fulda.

 One day in the miracle of the rose, when Elizabeth went into the city to deliver bread to the poor in disregard of the laws at that time, she met her mother-in-law who disapproved of her charitable deeds. When asked what was in the basket (alternative version: under the apron), Elizabeth lied and said that the basket contained roses. The mother-in-law ordered her to lift the cloth. Unexpectedly, the bread in the basket turned into roses through a miracle.