St Elizabeth of Portugal

St Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)

Elizabeth was a Spanish princess, born in 1271 and married at the age of 12 to King Denis of Portugal. In those days, girls were given to marriage at a very young age and she was a beautiful girl, very devout and beloved by everyone. Her husband, however, was not much of a nice man and often he would embarrass his wife and cause scandal. An uncomfortable situation was going to put Elizabeth in a bad light, but it turned out that it taught Denis a big lesson, and turned his life around. He started to respect Elizabeth and died in peace. When he was sick, his wife was totally dedicated to him and did not leave his side except to attend Mass. Elizabeth lived another 11 years after his death and did lots of charitable work, and was a role model for many of her family members who admired her for bringing harmony to everyone. She even unified entire countries at odds with each other. She died on July 4 1336 and was buried in the cemetery of a monastery in Coimbra, Portugal. She was canonized on the feast of the Holy Trinity by Pope Urban VIII in 1625. Attending daily Mass, Elizabeth found the courage to carry all the crosses she encountered in her life, with dignity, patience, and love.