Though St. Elizabeth of Hungary lived 800 years ago, she has a unique appeal for Christians today. Love, rather than politics or ideology, was the driving force of her life. She was a happily married woman who loved her husband and children. She was a lover not just of social justice in the abstract, but of the poor as individuals. Above all, Elizabeth hungered for God, and found him in her everyday activities as a noblewoman, wife and mother before she found him in heroic charity to the poor and in religious life in imitation of St. Francis. The Greatest of These is Love, first written for the 8th centenary of Elizabeth's birth in 2007, and based on the most up-to-date research, will bring us closer to her than ever before. It also includes an English translation of the testimonies given by her closest friends at her canonization process, along with newly-discovered from the process never before translated into English; and a section of prayers for private meditation or group celebrations.
Though St. Elizabeth of Hungary lived 800 years ago, she has a unique appeal for Christians today. Love, rather than politics or ideology, was the driving force of her life. She was a happily married woman who loved her husband and children. She was a lover not just of social justice in the abstract, but of the poor as individuals. Above all, Elizabeth hungered for God, and found him in her everyday activities as a noblewoman, wife and mother before she found him in heroic charity to the poor and in religious life in imitation of St. Francis. The Greatest of These is Love, first written for the 8th centenary of Elizabeth's birth in 2007, and based on the most up-to-date research, will bring us closer to her than ever before. It also includes an English translation of the testimonies given by her closest friends at her canonization process, along with newly-discovered from the process never before translated into English; and a section of prayers for private meditation or group celebrations.
