St Elizabeth of Hungary

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” Phil 2.4

St Elizabeth of Hungary, 19th November 2010 (Preached in the Cathedral at Evensong)

Think back to when you were 24 years old – much easier to do for some of you than others of us.

What had you done with your life by 24?

I had sat a lot of examinations at school and at university. I had played a lot of rugby and cricket; done a lot of singing; spent a year teaching mathematics to boys at Lancing College; had a few iffy relationships; fallen off my motorbike too many times; generally messed around!

I’d had quite a good time really for the first 24 years of my life. I hope you did.

Today we remember in the Church calendar, St Elizabeth of Hungary, Princess of Thuringia. She was dead by 24. She died on November 17th in the year 1231.

So what did she achieve in those 24 years that made her a saint of the Church?

You don’t have to be an historian to know that Central Europe was a very different place 800 years ago.

Elizabeth was born to King Andrew II of Hungary and his wife Gertrude in 1207 and by the age of four was engaged to be married to the heir to the throne of Thuringia, Prince Hermann. At that tender age, she was taken to be raised in the court of Thuringia (central Germany).

When Elizabeth was six, her mother was murdered by jealous Hungarian nobles.

When she was nine, her fiancé, Hermann died; and when she was ten, Hermann’s father the king, went mad and died. By 14 she was married to Herman’s brother, now the 21 year old King Ludwig IV.

At 15, she had the first of her three children, and by 20, her husband had died of the plague on his way to a Crusade, and her 5 year old son became King Hermann II.

Almost immediately she was driven out of her home in the Castle of Marburg, and her three children were taken away from her.

What a life! Not much cricket and singing and messing about.

It’s hardly surprising then, that she was a very devout Christian from an early age, and in the last few years of her life became a Third order Franciscan.

There are many stories of her dedication to the poor and the infirm. She gave away much of her money and possessions and nursed the sick in her own hospitals.

Her life of self-giving, rather than what could easily have been a life of self-pity, proved an inspiration for generations and many hospitals, schools and churches have been dedicated to her name.

As recently as 2007, the 800th anniversary of her birth, the German 10 Euro coin was engraved with her image and she even had a musical which ran from 2007 to 2009 – not exactly Abba, but ‘Elizabeth – the Legend of a Saint’.

She made the most of her twenty four years, finding meaning in her tragic life by living for God and for others.

Whatever our life holds for us, let’s ask God to help us never to let self-pity drag us down; or self-congratulation puff us up; but to follow Elizabeth and Jesus in the joyful service of others.

As our patron St Paul puts it: “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” Phil 2.4