#stelizabethofportugal

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Saint Elizabeth of Portugal

1271 - 1336 Feast day: July 4 (New), July 8 (Trad) Patronage: victims of adultery, jealousy, and unfaithfulness; Portugal; brides; charitable societies and workers; difficult marriages; falsely accused people; widows

St. Elizabeth of Portugal, also known as St Elizabeth of Aragon and St Isabella of Portugal was queen consort of Portugal and a tertiary of the Franciscan Order. Her great aunt was St. Elizabeth of Hungary, after whom she was named.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

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Nostra Signora della Neve, Adro, Italy / Our Lady of the Snow, Adro, Italy (1519), St Elizabeth of Portugal Widow and Memorials of the Saints - 8 July

Nostra Signora della Neve, Adro, Italy/Our Lady of the Snow, Adro, Brescia, Italy (1519) – 8 July, 5 August:HERE:https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/08/nostra-signora-della-neve-adro-italy-our-lady-of-the-snow-adro-brescia-italy-1519-and-memorials-of-the-saints-8-july/ St Elizabeth of Portugal TOSF (1271-1336) Widow, Queen Consort, Widow, Franciscan Tertiary, Apostle of Charity and Peace, Political…

[ricisidro]

#ThursdayThoughts #TodayIs #Feastday of #Saint Queen #Elizabeth of #Portugal (1271 – 4 July 1336). She was as a peacemaker in her family and became a #Franciscan Poor Clare. Her life was marked with prayer in the form of daily #Mass and #fasting, a loving and charitable woman towards the #poor, #sick and #needy. Her prayer and patience succeeded in converting her husband King Denis of Portugal, who had been leading a sinful life. Elizabeth of Aragon by Francisco de Zurbarán (ca 1638) #painting #art at Museo Nacional del Prado, #Madrid, #Spain #God #Jesus #HolySpirit #StElizabethofPortugal #Christian #Catholic #Catolico (at Museo Nacional del Prado)

[anastpaul]

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul , Nuestra Señora del Refugio / Our Lady of Refuge, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1720) and Memorials of the Saints - 4 July

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul , Nuestra Señora del Refugio / Our Lady of Refuge, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1720) and Memorials of the Saints – 4 July

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June) +2021 Nuestra Señora del Refugio / Our Lady of Refuge, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1720) – 4 July: Jesuit Missionary Father Juan José Güica brought a painting of Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners from Italy to Mexico in 1720. In a dream, the Virgin told Padre Güica to ask the Franciscans of Zacatecas to use and promote the image; – they distributed over…

[anastpaul]

Our Lady of Refuge and Memorials of the Saints - 4 July

Our Lady of Refuge and Memorials of the Saints – 4 July

4 July – Our Lady of Refuge, Nuestra Señora del Refugio, is Patroness of California and parts of Mexico. This painting is from the hands of the artist, Joseph de Paez, 1750, Mexico.

The Franciscan missionary Francisco Diego Garcia y Moreno was the first Bishop of Baja, California.   He proclaimed Nuestra Señora del Refugio, as Patron on 4 January 1843, at Mission Santa Clara in Alta California.

H…

[anastpaul]

One Minute Reflection – 4 July – Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 9:1–8

“Rise and walk”…Matthew 9:5

REFLECTION – “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will bring your mortal bodies to life also.” (Rom 8:11) Now it is a natural human body, then it will be a spiritual body. “Adam the first man, became a living soul, the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.” (1 Cor 15:45) That is why He “will bring your mortal bodies to life… through His Spirit dwelling in you.”

Oh, what a happy Hallelujah we will sing then!   What security!   No more adversary, no more enemy, we won’t lose a single friend.   Here below, we sing God’s praises in the midst of our worries, in heaven, we will sing them in perfect tranquillity.   Here below, we sing them as people who have to die, in heaven, it will be in a life that never ends. Here below, in hope, in heaven, in the reality.   Here below, we are travellers, then we shall be in our homeland.   So let us begin singing already now, brothers, not in order to savour the rest but in order to alleviate our work.   Let us sing like travellers.   Sing but without ceasing to walk, sing to console yourself in the midst of fatigue… Sing and walk!

What does that mean, walk?   Go forward, make progress in doing good… Go forward by walking towards the good, advance in faith and in the purity of your habits.   Sing and walk!   Don’t lose your way; don’t turn back, don’t stand still.   Let us turn towards the Lord.”... St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor – Sermon 256

PRAYER – Loving God and Father, we turn to You in praise and thanksgiving in good times, in trials and moments of sadness and happiness.   May the prayers of Your angels and saints support our weak efforts, today especially we ask St Elizabeth of Portugal and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, to hear our pleas.   By the great gift of Your love and mercy You dispel the darkness of sin and bring us to the true Light, Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

One Minute Reflection – 4 July – “Rise and walk” One Minute Reflection – 4 July – Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 9:1–8…

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Memorials of the Saints - 4 July

Memorials of the Saints – 4 July

St Elizabeth of Portugal TOSF (1271-1336) (Optional Memorial) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/04/saint-of-the-day-4-july-st-elizabeth-of-portugal-t-o-s-f-1271-1336/

Bl Agatha Yun Jeom-Hye St Albert Quadrelli St Andrew of Crete St Anthony Daniel St Aurelian of Lyons St Bertha of Blangy St Carileffo of Anille Bl Catherine…

[anastpaul]

Today, 4 July in the Universal Church, we celebrate the Memorial of St Elizabeth of Portugal T.O.S.F. (1271-1336) Queen Consort, Franciscan Tertiary, Apostle of Charity and Peace, political negotiator and mediator – also known as Elizabeth of Aragon, Elisabet in Catalan, Isabel in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish and The Peacemaker, born in 1271 at Aragon, Spain and died on 4 July 1336 at Estremoz, Portugal of a fever.   Patronages – Coimbra, Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Cathedral of La Laguna.

Elizabeth means “Promise of God” Saint Elizabeth was the daughter of King Peter III of this kingdom and niece of King James the Conqueror, great-niece of Emperor Frederick II of Germany.   They gave her the name Elizabeth after her aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

Her formation was formidable and from the time she was very young she had a notable piety.   She was taught that, in order to be truly good, she ought to include mortification of her likes and whims along with her prayer.    She was careful to order her life toward the love of God and neighbour, disciplining her habits of life.   She did not eat between meals.

She was married at the age of 12 to King Dionysius of Portugal.   This was a great cross for Elizabeth because he was a man of little morals, being violent an unfaithful.   But she endured heroically this trial.   She prayed and offered many sacrifices for him.   She always treated him with goodness.   They had two sons:  Alfonso, the future king of Portugal and Constance, future king of Castille.   Saint Elizabeth even educated the natural sons of her husband with other women.   The king, for his part, admired her and permitted her to live an authentic Christian life, to a certain degree.   She would rise very early in the morning and read six psalms, attend Holy Mass and dedicated herself to manage the duties of the palace.   In her free time she met with other women to make clothing for the poor.   She dedicated the afternoons to visiting the elderly and ill.

She made possible the construction of hostels, a hospital for the poor, a free school, a home for women repenting from a sinful life and a hospice for abandoned children. She also constructed convents and did other good works for the people.   She would lend her beautiful dresses and even one of her crowns for the weddings of poor young women.

Saint Elizabeth would frequently distribute coins from the Royal Treasury to the poor so that they could buy their daily bread.   On one occasion, King Dionysius, suspicious of her actions, began to spy on her.   When the queen began to distribute money among the poor, the king saw and, infuriated, went to reclaim it.   But the Lord intervened, in such a way that, when the king ordered that she showed him what she was giving to the poor, the coins turned to roses.

The Peacemaker: The son of Elizabeth, Alfonso, had a violent character like his father.   He was filled with anger at the preference his father showed to his natural children.   On two occasions he promoted a civil war against his father.   Elizabeth strived for reconciliation between father and son.   On one occasion she went on pilgrimage to Santarem, a Eucharistic miracle and, dressed as a penitent, implored the Lord for peace. Then she went to present herself on the field of battle and, when the armies of her spouse and son were about to engage in battle, the queen kneeled between them and, on her knees, asked her husband and son to be reconciled.

Some of her letters have been preserved, which reflect gospel values and audacity of our Saint. To her husband:  “Like an infuriated wolf that is going to kill your Little son, I will fight so that the arms to the King are not unleashed against our own son.   But at the same time, I will first make sure that the arms of the army of my son are destroyed, before they are fired against the followers of his father.”

To her son:  “By the Blessed Virgin Mary, I ask that you make peace with your father.   See, the soldiers are burning houses, destroying crops and breaking everything in pieces.   Not with weapons, my son, we cannot fix the problem with weapons, but rather with dialogue, continuing negotiations to fix these conflicts.   I will make the troops of the king go away and that the demands of the son be attended to but please remember, that you have a most serious duty to your father as his son and as a subject to his king.”

She obtained peace on more than one occasion, and her husband died repentant, without a doubt due to prayers of his wife.

Because Saint Elizabeth had such a great love for the Eucharist, she dedicated herself to study the lives of the Saints who were most notable in their love for the Eucharist and especially Saint Clare.   After becoming a widow, Saint Elizabeth divested herself of all her riches. She went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where she surrendered her crown to the Archbishop in order to receive the habit as a Claretian tertiary.   The Archbishop was so moved by this act of the Saint that he gave her his pastoral cross to help her on her return to Portugal.   She lived her last years in the convent, dedicated to Eucharistic adoration.

When a war broke out between her son and her son-in-law, the King of Castille, Saint Elizabeth, despite her old age, undertook a long journey by dangerous roads and obtained peace.   Nevertheless, the trip cost her life.   Feeling herself close to death, she asked to be taken to a Claretian convent that she herself had founded.   There she died invoking Our Lady on 4 July 1336.

God blessed her tomb with miracles.   Her body can be venerated in the Claretian convent in Coimbra.   She was Canonised on 25 May 1625 by Pope Urban VIII.

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for peace in our world!

St Elizabeth on the Colonnade at St Peter’s, Rome

St Elizabeth on the 50 Escudos Note, prior to the Euro

(via Saint of the Day - 4 July - St Elizabeth of Portugal T.O.S.F. (1271-1336))

[anastpaul]

Thought for the Day – July 4 

Elizabeth was not well enough to undertake her final peacemaking journey, made all the more difficult by the oppressive heat of the season. She would not, however, permit herself to be dissuaded from it. She answered that there was no better way to give of her life and her health than by averting the miseries and destruction of war. By the time she had successfully brought about peace, she was so sick that death was imminent. After her death in 1336, her body was returned to the monastery at Coimbra for burial. The work of promoting peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavour. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy for humankind, almost a total lack of concern for herself and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success. St Elizabeth of Portugal Pray for us!

[anastpaul]

Happy Feast Day of St Elizabeth of Portugal – July 4 

As Elizabeth exercised deep faith and charity, she remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom. He, too, was the object of many of her peace endeavours. She long sought peace for him with God and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favour the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, she set out and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal and his son-in-law, the king of Castile.

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Saint of the Day – July 4 – St Elizabeth of Portugal or Elizabeth of Aragon (1271-1336) Queen, Widow, Franciscan Tertiary 

Elizabeth showed an early enthusiasm for her faith. She said the full Divine Office daily, fasted and did other penance, as well as attended twice-daily choral Masses. Religious fervour was common in her family, as she could count several members of her family who were already venerated as saints. The most notable example is her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, after whom she was named. Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father, James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Thus fortunately prepared, she was able to meet the challenge when, at the age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice.