O blest Elizabeth, in glory Enthroned amid the heavenly throng, Be gracious to accept the praises We offer you in cheerful song. As you from home and hearth were driven And forced in direst want to roam, So now direct us lonely exiles And help us reach our heavenly home. You practiced poverty: enrich us With heaven's choicest gifts secure; You daily mortified your body: Help us to keep our bodies pure. The luring world and wily Satan You overcame by watchful prayers; Teach us with steadfast heart to conquer Our enemies' deceitful snares. To God the Father highest glory And to his only Son, our Lord. Together with the Holy Spirit, As years and ages endless run. ~~~ Elizabeth was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castle should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband's empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband's four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of the poor. St Elizabeth is traditionally represented as dressed in rich clothes, bearing in her top skirt-which is gathered up at the front to form an apron-a profusion of red roses, while behind her back she holds a loaf of bread; these are the symbols of her life, her inherited position as Queen of Hungary, and the life she elected for herself of penance and asceticism. The contrast between the two callings is everywhere apparent in the twenty-four years which made up her life. Even before her wedding at the age of thirteen to the saintly Louis of Thuringia, she was marked out for suffering. Her mother-in-law tried to prevent the wedding out of jealousy and constantly mocked Elizabeth for her charity and humility. She said that she behaved 'like a tired old mule,' when she prostrated herself before the crucifix, and that she was totally unfitted to be Queen. Her mortification took the form of wearing the simplest clothes woven of coarse untreated wool and of eating as little as possible; she refused to wear her jewelled crown, when our Lord wore one of thorns. However, more important than these mortifications was her constant and remarkable charity, which was expressed in every detail of her life, inward and outward. When she was not actively engaged in the business of government she spent all her time either in prayer or visiting the poor and the sick, with the result that, after her husband's death in 1227, his family accused her of squandering the royal purse on the vagrants of the land. Her husband's family gained control of the government and ousted her from the palace with her four children, and Louis's brother declared himself regent. He forbade any citizen to take her in, and such was his reputation for savagery that she was reduced to spending the first days of her banishment in a pigsty. She refused the asylum offered by her father, but finally accepted the hospitality of her own uncle, the bishop of Bamberg. Since 1226 her confessor had been Master Conrad of Hamburg, a severe and unpopular inquisitor of heretics. St Elizabeth now placed herself unreservedly under his direction, which was so severe as to seem sadistic: he banished all her followers, substituting two ugly and disagreeable waiting women; and for infringements of his discipline he would administer a beating, sometimes for merely missing a sermon. Eventually her husband's comrades returned from the Crusades, entrusted with the duty of protecting Elizabeth. This they were preparing to do when the usurper changed his attitude to her; she was recalled and the rights of her son recognized. She spent the remainder of her life in constant prayer and practical charity, and became universally loved and revered. She died on November 19th, 1231, and was canonized four years later by Pope Gregory IX. ~~~ Litany of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary   This approved litany for private use is found among other places in an old manual of devotions, Ave Maria, Winderberg, New York, no date. The alternative oration above, collect for Nov. 19, is the translation as given in the Saint Andrew Daily Missal, p. 972. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us. Holy Mary, Mother of Mercy, Pray for us. Holy Elizabeth, mother of the poor, Pray for us. Saint Elizabeth, who didst fear God from thy heart, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, most fervent in devotion, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, devout and beloved disciple of Jesus, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, imitator of blessed Francis, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, of noblest faith and birth, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, devoted to all pious offices, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, whose nights were spent in prayer and contemplation, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, who wast consoled with heavenly visions, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, beloved of God and man, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, full of contempt of this world, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, example of poverty, chastity and obedience, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, solace of thy husband, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, mirror of widows, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, holocaust of penance and humility, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, admirable preacher of meekness, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, despiser of the luxuries of the regal house, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, lover of the Cross of Christ, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, light of all pious women, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, nourisher of the orphans, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, always intent on works of mercy, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, consoler of all sorrows, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, teacher of the poor, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, seeker of contumely and affronts, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, distributor of thy riches to thy poor neighbors, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, patient in adverstity, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth maker of vestments for the poor, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, hospitable receiver of pilgrims and the sick, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, succor of the needy, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, formidable to demons, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, example of all spiritual perfection, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, repressor of all vain and dissolute conversation, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, cheered by angelic choirs in thy last agony, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, miraculous in life, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, helper of our devotions, Pray for us. St. Elizabeth, our sweetest patron, Pray for us. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Graciously hear us, O Lord! Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us, O Lord! Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. Pray for us, blessed Elizabeth: R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. Enlighten, O God of compassion, the hearts of Thy faithful servants, and through the glorious prayers of blessed Elizabeth, make us to despise the pleasing things of this world, and ever to delight in the consolations of heaven. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen. (Or this): O God of tender mercies, pour forth Thy light over the hearts of Thy faithful people: and graciously listening to the glorious prayers of blessed Elizabeth, make us to think little of worldly prosperity and to be ever gladdened by heavenly consolation. Through our Lord, etc. R. Amen. Prayer Source: Kyrie Eleison — Two Hundred Litanies by Benjamin Francis Musser O.F.M., The Magnificat Press, 1944 Some parts Courtesy of Catholic Information Network (CIN)