St. Elizabeth of Hungary: More Than a Fun Halloween Costume

Taryn DeLong shares the story of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: wife, mother, Secular Franciscan, and princess.

A couple of weeks ago, at All Saints’ Day Mass, our pastor asked all of the children who were dressed as saints to come up to the altar and tell us who they were dressed as. There were two dressed as Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. This made sense to me; the only time I ever dressed up as a saint for All Saints’ Day, I dressed as Saint Elizabeth. Who wouldn’t want to wear a pretty dress and a crown?

A Crown of Thorns

Many years later, I’ve pointed to Saint Elizabeth as an example of how not all saints are called to a life of poverty. Some have great wealth and use it to serve others. Saint Elizabeth wanted to live a life of poverty but was a princess instead. On the Feast of the Assumption one year, she took off her crown and laid it before the crucifix at a church. She was scolded, but she answered, “How can I, a wretched creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?”

Saint Elizabeth is known for this question as well as her great acts of charity. Her husband supported this work. Sadly, though, he died in the Crusades six years into their marriage. Elizabeth was only 20 and about to give birth to their third child. Her in-laws believed she was wasting the family’s money and kicked her out of the palace. It seems that her crown did turn into a metaphorical crown of thorns!

When her late husband’s allies returned from the Crusades, Elizabeth was reinstated as mother of the heir to the throne. She later joined the Secular Franciscan Order and founded a hospital dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. There, she continued to serve the poor until she died before her 24th birthday.

Wealth Enables Service

It can be easy, when reading the lives of the saints, to feel like you have to take a vow of poverty to be holy. Saints like Elizabeth of Hungary remind us that we each have a unique path to Heaven. Some, like consecrated religious, do take vows of poverty. But some are called to run businesses, to support families, and to give some of the fruits of our labor to the Church and to our community.

Saints like Elizabeth of Hungary remind us that we each have a unique path to Heaven. #catholicmom

Scripture tells us not that money is the root of all evil, but that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Money should be a tool, not an idol. Part of our vocation as wives is discerning with our husbands the best way to use that tool in service of our families and the other people God places in our lives for us to care for. As stewards of our family’s money, we can, like Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, set an example of love in action.

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