A mother to all the poor was saint Elizabeth, She had compassion for all, Saved many from death: Kept many alive. To the young and the old At every time Mercy She showed with joy.
Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. Poem handed down from Benedictine Pater Johannes Werlin (†1666). Copyright VERLAG SCHNELL & STEINER GMBH REGENSBURG
M
ay we follow the example of St. Elizabeth and serve those in need with loving and joyful hearts this Christmas season.
Darrel and Christy Colson Wartburg College
Born in 1207, Elizabeth of Hungary devoted her energy and fortune to assisting the poor and the sick in the German region of Thuringia. Of royal blood, the 14-year-old married Ludwig IV, landgrave of the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Soon after marrying, she renounced her privileged life and worked to serve the less fortunate, feeding the hungry outside the castle gates and founding a hospital and orphanage nearby. Soon after dying in 1231, she was canonized, 300 years before Martin Luther took refuge at the castle. St. Elizabeth is associated with the legend of The Miracle of the Roses. According to the legend, she often smuggled bread and leftovers from the castle kitchen to share with the poor. The practice was forbidden, so she hid the food in her robes. When accosted by suspicious courtiers who demanded to see what she was hiding, she opened her cloak to reveal roses where the bread had been. Each year in November Wartburg College honors her legacy through community activism and service. St. Elizabeth Week focuses student activities on alleviating hunger and homelessness and raising awareness of local community needs.
Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.