Part 7 (1/2)

It was a ti faith held theseeh Divine reat poet of e shall tell you later, wrote about hell, Heaven and Purgatory, his neighbors all believed that he had really visited those places and seen all the wonders that he described

So when soothsayers and astrologers foretold that the infant Elizabeth was to becoends tell us they predicted, people els and Saints to appear to the eyes of mortal h rank to be betrothed almost before they had quitted the cradle, and when Elizabeth was four years old she was engaged to be ia--a boy named Herman as about ten years older than herself And it was also custoht up in the house of her intended husband, so a nuia to fetch the Princess Elizabeth away

She returned with the horses were needed to carry back to Thuringia all the costly things that ith her, for she was provided with every comfort and luxury then known We are told that her dresses were all of the most costly silks adorned with precious stones, that her cradle, which was of silver, accoroom, that even her bath was of silver and so heavy that it was all that her hande sum of money was allotted as her bridal portion or dowry

Elizabeth was too young to reth of time after she left her parents, and she was kindly received in her new farave himself, Herman the First, was a kind-hearted uished ruler, and his second son, Ludwig, had qualities of greatness that gave every promise for the country if it should ever corave, the princes named Conrad and Heinrich, were of different calibre frones, as about Elizabeth's own age Herman, the eldest son, soon died, and Elizabeth was then betrothed to Ludwig

When she was little ious fervor that was to shape her entire life She prayed frequently and always tried to bring the fora hours at prayer and frequently arose to pray at night, and whenever she had the opportunity she practiced self-denial that was believed to be acceptable in the eyes of Heaven by withdrawing herself fro when at table from some dainty that she loved

Three years after Elizabeth had gone to live in Thuringia so happened that deepened her spiritual ardor, for her , and Andrew hie in war to put down the rebellion that had arisen in his country

This was a great sorrow to the little girl, although she re ion than before

Many stories are told us of Elizabeth's piety On one occasion, when she was dressed in her finest gare of the Savior, and with an outburst of tears she threw herself on the ground at the foot of the crucifix, declaring that she could not bear to wear fine raiment and jewels, while her Lord was croith thorns She did s of the sarave's wife, Sophia, and of the courtiers and entleness and piety were a constant reproach to the more worldly persons that surrounded her

When Elizabeth was ten years old there took place another of the crusades in which knights, nobles and coainst the heathen; and Elizabeth's father, the King of Hungary, left his dorave doubt if he would ever return, and it seeht be wrested from him by rebellion in his absence; so ia believed that thewith Elizabeth would be unwise, since there ht be no benefit to be reaped froravine Sophia, we are told, was inclined to agree with them--all the more so because the kind ruler, Her was now on the throne of Thuringia, and could er of civil war

It is not known if the stories of the ill-treatment that was then visited on the helpless little Elizabeth are true or not, but many writers have told us that Sophia was determined by harshness and unkindness to force Elizabeth to enter a convent so that her son would be free toheard of the plans to break off his engage that he loved Elizabeth dearly and would marry her in spite of every person and relative in his dominions And when Elizabeth was fourteen years old, she was , as as handso husband for the beautiful young girl who had already becoreat piety and her charitable deeds

Thecouple was passionately attached, and Ludwig encouraged his wife in her pious and kindly undertakings He understood her so well and gave her such hearty support in her dealings with the poor and her gifts of food, , that after his death he was often referred to as Saint Ludwig, just as his as called Saint Elizabeth

Ludwig, however, did not like to see his wife go poorly dressed, and she wore splendid rai so much time and effort to her charity and her prayers that she taxed her strength She had to desist fros, or perfore, when he feared that her severe fasts and her long prayers earing out her health; and Elizabeth would steal froht him asleep, and would wear a coarse sackcloth skirt beneath the silks that pleased hi the steep path to the castle of the Wartburg where he held his court, hein her dress loaves of bread for the poor people in the nearby village of Marburg Elizabeth always tried to perform her charity secretly, for she believed that it would lose its value if it idely known--and moreover she feared that her husband would not approve of her taking a heavy burden down the steep path into the village When he stopped her and gaily asked her what she had in her apron, she opened it shyly, expecting hireat was her around a profusion of the sweetest s roses of all colors, which had miraculously taken the place of the provisions that Elizabeth had carried!

That was only the first of a series of miracles that those orshi+pped her , astonished and awed by what had taken place, is said to have erected a monument at the spot where the beautiful roses appeared

Elizabeth pitied the sick and tended them with the utmost kindness--and she was particularly kind to the wretched sufferers from the dreadful disease of leprosy From earliest times the leper was an outcast froed to warn the by outcry, or by use of a clapper or bell But Elizabeth went to the lepers without fear and fed and coed the Andrew, returned from the crusade, and on his way back to his own dohter

By this tiarer and had parted with all except her siht bla Elizabeth in the state that was her due as a royal princess, so he inquired of Elizabeth if she had any fine dress to hen greeting her father She replied that she had none, but that by grace of God some ould be found out of the difficulty; and when she put on the only dress that was left to her it suddenly changed by a own so beautiful and lustrous that its like had never been seen before, and King Andrew rejoiced in the appearance of his daughter when she came before him

By this tirave was rejoiced He was a powerful and a wise ruler, and while he was perfectly just, he punished evil-doers with a hand of iron On one occasion he was called away froive aid to the E down a revolt in his doia until his return

Faentle lady was sorely beset to give aid to her suffering people She spent so much on charity that she nearly emptied the treasury, and even sold the robes of state and the official orna returned he found his coffers nearly empty--but the money had been wisely used, for Elizabeth had saved the lives of many of his subjects

Then another crusade took place and the brave Ludwig planned to join it and do his share in driving the heathen Saracens away from the tomb of Christ With bitterness and sorrow he said farewell to his hos, and kissed his children for the last ti at Otranto to e the crusaders and Ludwig sickened and died

Word of his death was brought to Elizabeth, who had just given birth to her third child And when she heard of it she wept bitterly, crying out that now the world was dead to her indeed, and she never could know joy again, since her dear lord was taken froia, but she was hated in the court on account of her piety, and according to rave's brothers, Conrad and Heinrich, conspired against her

At all events, her life was most unhappy, and in the dead of winter she quitted the court and went to live in the village, earning her daily bread by spinning for her living, and eating barely enough to keep alive And all the villagers whom she had treated kindly, now that they found her alone and poor and out of favor at court, would do nothing for her, and she was laughed at and insulted on the streets

But in this tian to have visions of Heavenly things and beheld angels, and once, so she declares, she saw the face of the Savior himself, who looked down on her and comforted her