Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Commemorating St. Elizabeth of Hungary
At St. Paul’s Parish today:
- Holy Communion at 6:30 p.m. (in the Worship Space);
- Midweek Study Group, Kerygma study of the Gospel of John at 7:00 p.m. (in the Parish Hall);
- Youth Group at 7:00 p.m. (in the Dining Room);
- Overeaters Anonymous at 7:30 p.m. (in the Common Room).
The November issue of St. Paul’s Sword of the Spirit, our monthly newsletter, is available on line, as is the calendar of parish events for November 2008.
Today’s news in the Episcopal Church - Episcopal Life Online.
On the calendar tomorrow, November 20, 2008:
- Men’s Fellowship Breakfast at Yours Truly Restaurant at 8:00 a.m.;
- Choir Practice at 7:00 p.m. (in the Worship Space).
About today’s commemoration:
Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate a 13th Century Hungarian abbess, St. Elizabeth. (Her feast has been moved to November 17 in the Roman Catholic tradition.) Hagiographer James Kiefer tells us:
The numerous “St. Elizabeth’s Hospitals” throughout the world are for the most part named, not for the Biblical Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, but for this princess of Hungary. She was concerned for the relief of the poor and the sick, and with her husband’s consent she used her dowry money for their relief. During a famine and epidemic in 1226, while her husband was away in Italy, she sold her jewels and established a hospital where she nursed the sick, and opened the royal granaries to feed the hungry. After her husband’s death in 1227, her inlaws, who opposed her “extravagances,” expelled her from Wartburg. Finally an arrangement was negotiated with them that gave her a stipend. She became a Franciscan tertiary (lay associate) and devoted the remainder of her life to nursing and charity. She sewed garments to clothe the poor, and went fishing to feed them.
A prayer for today:
The collect for St. Elizabeth’s commemoration is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:
Almighty God, by your grace your servant Elizabeth of Hungary recognized and honored Jesus in the poor of this world: Grant that we, following her example, may with love and gladness serve those in any need or trouble, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Posted: November 19th, 2008 under Calendar of Events, Choir, Christian Education, Daily Prayer, Episcopal Church, Fellowship, Saints, Worship.
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