CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: WED. NOV. 17, 2010

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: WED. NOV. 17, 2010: HEADLINES-

VATICAN: POPE: ON ST. JULIANAN AND APPEAL FOR CONDEMNED WOMAN -

ASIA: AFGHANISTAN: MAN ARRESTED FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH -

EUROPE: GERMANY: MEDIEVAL GRAFFITI OF NUNNERY SHOWS WORK OF APPRENTICES -

AMERICA: MEXICO: ARCHDIOCESE SPEAKS AGAINST MURDER -

AFRICA: EGYPT: FORCED CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM -

AUSTRALIA: PRIEST CLEARED OF CHARGES -
TODAY'S SAINT: NOV. 17: ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY -

TODAY'S GOSPEL: NOV. 17: Matthew 25: 31 - 40 -

VATICAN: POPE: ON ST. JULIANAN AND APPEAL FOR CONDEMNED WOMAN
ST. JULIANA OF CORNILLON HELPED TO INSTITUTE CORPUS CHRISTI VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS REPORT) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused his attention on St. Juliana of Cornillon who contributed to instituting the Feast of Corpus Christi. Born in the Belgian city of Liege towards the end of the twelfth century, Juliana was orphaned at the age of five "and entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns of the convent-lazaretto of Mont-Cornillon". Later she also took the Augustinian habit and went on to became prioress of the convent. The Pope explained how the Belgian saint "possessed great culture, ... and a profound sense of the presence of Christ, which she experienced particularly intensely in the Sacrament of the Eucharist". At the age of sixteen she had a vision which convinced her of the need to establish a liturgical feast for Corpus Christi "in which believers would be able to adore the Eucharist so as to augment their faith, increase the practice of virtue and mend the wrongs done to the Blessed Sacrament", said the Holy Father. Juliana "confided [her revelation] to two other fervent adorers of the Eucharist " and the three together "formed a kind of 'spiritual alliance' with the intention of glorifying the Blessed Sacrament". "It was", Pope Benedict continued his catechesis, "Bishop Robert Thourotte of Liege who, following some initial hesitation, accepted the proposal made by Juliana and her two companions and instituted, for the first time, the Solemnity of Corpus Domini in his diocese. Other bishops later imitated him and established the same feast in the areas under their pastoral care". Juliana, said the Pope, "had to suffer the harsh opposition of certain members of the clergy, including the superior upon whom her convent depended. She therefore chose to leave Mont-Cornillon with a number of companions and for ten years, between 1248 and 1258, was accommodated in various houses of Cistercian nuns". At the same time "she zealously continued to spread Eucharistic devotion. She died at Fosses-La-Ville in Belgium in 1258". The Holy Father recalled how "in 1264 Urban IV chose to institute the Solemnity of Corpus Domini as a feast for the Universal Church on the Thursday following Pentecost" and, by way of personal example, "himself celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Domini in Orvieto, the city in which he was then residing". And the cathedral of Orvieto still houses "the famous corporal with traces of the Eucharistic miracle which had befallen at Bolsena the preceding year, 1263". "Urban IV asked one of the greats theologians in history, St. Thomas Aquinas who was with the Pope at that time in Orvieto, to write the texts for the liturgical office of this great feast, ... as an expression of praise and gratitude to the Blessed Sacrament". "Although following the death of Urban IV the celebration of Corpus Domini was restricted to certain regions of France, Germany, Hungary and northern Italy, in 1317 Pope John XXII reintroduced it for the whole Church". "Joyfully I wish to affirm that there is a 'Eucharistic springtime' in the Church today", said the Holy Father. "How many people remain in silence before the Tabernacle sustaining a dialogue of love with Jesus! It is consoling to know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I pray that this 'Eucharistic springtime' may become increasingly widespread in parishes, and especially in Belgium, homeland of St, Juliana". "Recalling St. Juliana of Cornillon, let us too renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... Faithfully encountering the Eucharistic Christ at Sunday Mass is essential for our journey of faith, but let us also seek to visit the Lord frequently, before His presence in the Tabernacle. ... By gazing at Him in adoration the Lord draws us to Him, to His mystery, in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and wine".AG/ VIS 20101117 (660) IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES NOV. 17

PAPAL APPEAL FOR ASIA BIBI VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience the Holy Father, with reference to the situation of Christians in Pakistan, pronounced the following words: "Over these days the international community is, with great concern, following the situation of Christians in Pakistan, who are often victims of violence or discrimination. In particular, I today express my spiritual closeness to Ms Asia Bibi and her family while asking that, as soon as possible, she may be restored to complete freedom. I also pray for people who find themselves in similar situations, that their human dignity and fundamental rights may be fully respected". Asia Bibi is a Pakistani Christian who, following a discussion with some Muslim colleagues, was accused by the latter of having pronounced offensive words against the Prophet Mohammed and denounced to the local imam. The imam asked the police to intervene and an investigation began which, a few days later, led to the arrest of Asia Bibi on the accusation of violating code 295 of the penal code, which provides for the death penalty for blasphemy.AG/ VIS 20101117 (190)

POPE RECALLS ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE OF 1980 VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - During his greetings to faithful at the end of his general audience today, the Pope addressed a group of Italian pilgrims from the region of Basilicata, who have come to Rome in the company of their local bishops priests and civil authorities to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the earthquake that devastated southern Italy in 1980. "During that dramatic event", said the Holy Father, "the wounds of which are still deep and open in the minds and hearts of those dear peoples, much generous aid came from many parts of Italy. At the local level, everyone undertook to implement the necessary measures. In particular, I would like to highlight the efforts made by the Church, which was able to offer, as well as material aid, the light of hope of the risen Christ, at a time of distress and darkness. My hope is that today's meeting, as well as the memory of the paternal visit made at that time by Servant of God John Paul II, may revive in Christian people the gift of faith, and the joy of sharing it in the great family of the Church".AG/ VIS 20101117 (210)

MASS FOR VICTIMS OF ATTACK AGAINST CATHEDRAL IN BAGHDAD VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 5 p.m. on 25 November, at the initiative of the Syrian-Catholic Church in Rome, a Mass will be held in memory of the priests and faithful who died in an attack against their cathedral in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 31 October, according to a communique published today. The Eucharist - which members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See have also been invited to attend - will be celebrated by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.OP/ VIS 20101117 (110)

IN MEMORIAM VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks: - Bishop Petros Hanna Issa al-Harboli of Zaku of the Chaldeans, Iraq, on 3 November at the age of 64. - Bishop Nikol Joseph Cauchi, emeritus of Gozo, Malta, on 15 November at the age of 81. - Bishop John Jerome Cunneen, emeritus of Christchurch, New Zealand, on 9 November at the age of 78. - Bishop Romualdas Kriksciunas, former apostolic administrator of the diocese of Panevezys, Lithuania, on 2 November at the age of 80. - Bishop Mateus Feliciano Tomas of Namibe, Angola, on 30 October at the age of 52.
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ASIA: AFGHANISTAN: MAN ARRESTED FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH
Asia News report: Said Musa was arrested on 31 May. He is set to appear before a judge without legal counsel and without knowledge of the charges against him. Many fear he might be made an example to show that Sharia is the law of the land.Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – An Afghan national, in prison since May because of his religion, will be put on tried this Sunday. However, he has been denied legal counsel. Local sources say no one knows what charges will be laid against him when he goes before a judge.The authorities arrested Said Musa, 45, on 31 May, a day after a local station, Noorin TV, broadcast images of Christians praying after being baptised. This was followed by a wave of arrests against Christians in what local sources describe as a manhunt. Apparently, Said Musa is the only Christian to go on trial.Leaving Islam for another religion is a capital offence under Afghanistan’s Islamic law, despite the fact that the Taliban lost power in 2001.In June, the authorities forced Musa to abjure his Christian faith publicly, on television, but still kept him in prison without informing him of the charges against him.In prison, Musa said he was a follower of Jesus, local sources report.Last month, Musa was able to get a letter out, addressed to the world’s Churches, to US President Barack Obama and the chiefs of NATO forces in Afghanistan.In it, he wrote that he was “physically and verbally abused” by his captors and other prisoners at Ouliat Prison in Kabul.He alluded to the lack of justice he faced, saying that the prosecutor had given the judge a false report about him and had demanded a bribe.Local Christians, human rights observers and religious freedom monitors fear that Musa might be made an example to show that Sharia rules in Afghanistan rather than international agreements.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Afghan-Christian-to-go-to-trial-on-Sunday-for-his-faith-20015.htmlan-to-go-to-trial-on-Sunday-for-his-faith-20015.html
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EUROPE: GERMANY: MEDIEVAL GRAFFITI OF NUNNERY SHOWS WORK OF APPRENTICES
THELOCAL REPORT: Historians in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced on Tuesday that they have deciphered mysterious 500-year-old graffiti left in an old abbey attic. The etchings are likely practice drawings made by handwork apprentices.For years people working in the former St. Katherina Church near Langerwehe had noticed the enigmatic drawings, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the LVR regional authority for monument preservation began closely examining their origins, spokeswoman Sabine Cornelius told The Local.They were surprised to find that the forty-by-two-metre plaster wall bore the tentative marks of young apprentices in the 15th century.“There are 42 different hammers etched into the wall, and one can clearly see which variety,” Cornelius said.Among them are stone-cutting, carpentry and slate hammers, in addition to repeated attempts at creating geometric shapes – but no words. Click here for a gallery of the graffiti.“It is very possible that the young apprentices were using the hammers as a kind of signature because they couldn’t write,” Cornelius told The Local.The apprentices were likely at the nunnery near Aachen during late-Gothic renovations which happened under Abbess Margarete von Fleck between 1492 and 1506. During that time the outer wall disappeared into an attic of a building addition, likely creating an ideal practice canvas.“These were something spontaneous not meant for posterity, and in this sense it is really particularly appealing,” Cornelius said. “It’s a look into the working conditions back then. You see that some drawings, for instance rosettes, are quite perfect and probably created by the master, and then there are the clumsy attempts at imitation by students.”According to a statement by the project’s lead historian, Dr. Ulrike Heckner, the drawings are an unusually personal and well-preserved testimony from people often overlooked by history. “Only rarely does historic graffiti from handworkers survive, hence the plaster etchings are an especially precious and unique document of the everyday life and working world in the late Middle Ages,” she said. http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20101116-31213.html
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AMERICA: MEXICO: ARCHDIOCESE SPEAKS AGAINST MURDER
CNA REPORT - The communications office of the Archdiocese of Xalapa, Mexico has told public officials that Mexicans need to see results in the fight against violence in the country. The office's statement came a week after a local incoming mayor was killed.The office issued Nov. 14 statement expressing the archdiocese’s indignation and repudiation of “all criminal acts that take the lives of innocent people, filling the lives of many families with sadness and uncertainty.”It also expressed solidarity with the family members of the mayor-elect of the city of Juan Rodriguez Clara. Incoming Mayor Gregorio Barradas Miravete was kidnapped and killed along with two other officials on Nov. 8.The archdiocese expressed hope that the government “will take up the lack of security with renewed determination.” The statement called for “honest police officers who are properly trained and compensated.” It also said new efforts must be made to create jobs and combat poverty.“We are willing to support any initiatives that are oriented toward personal and social re-invigoration and that will help form new men and women,” the statement indicated. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/archdiocese-speaks-out-against-murder-of-mayor-elect-in-mexico/
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AFRICA: EGYPT: FORCED CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM
Agenzia Fides REPORT – Bishop of Luxor: “Attempts are made to force Christian girls to convert to Islam”"What occurred was an incident between two young people that was overplayed to make Christians look bad,” Fides was told by Bishop Joannes Zakaria, Bishop of the Catholic Copts of Luxor, Egypt, whose diocese includes the village of al-Nawahid in Qena (southern Egypt), where Muslim extremists burned homes and businesses of Christian Copts after rumors spread of a romance between a Christian boy and a Muslim girl. "Fortunately, in this case, the police intervened swiftly and immediately imposed a curfew, preventing incidents that would have caused more serious damage," said Bishop Zakaria."It was a situation between to young people that turned into a pretext to attack Christians. We have reason to believe, instead, that there is a plan to force Christians to convert, especially girls, who are the most vulnerable," continues Bishop Zakaria. "We are aware of several incidents of young Muslims who spot Christian girls and try to make them convert to Islam by force," says the Bishop of Luxor. "Similar incidents have occurred from Alexandria to Aswan.""As Christians of Egypt, we feel very close to our brothers in faith persecuted in Iraq. Sunday, November 14, I celebrated a Mass here in Luxor for the souls of the people who died October 31 in the attack on the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Deliverance in Baghdad. The Mass was attended by many of the faithful,” said Bishop Zakaria."It is the cross we bear with serenity, even with pain in our heart, because it allows us to share in the sufferings of Christ the Redeemer," says the Bishop of Luxor.http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=27822&lan=eng
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AUSTRALIA: PRIEST CLEARED OF CHARGES
CATH NEWS REPORT: Bishop Michael Malone has announced that an independent investigation by the Church has cleared the way for Father Peter Brock to return to ministry, according to a press statement.In 2009, allegations of abuse against Fr Brock were dropped by the Newcastle Local Court. He has always maintained his innocence to the allegations, made in September 2007.When the charges were later dropped in 2009, the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle was obliged to conduct its own probe of the matter as "the allegations were serious and demanded a thorough impartial investigation". It concluded in October this year, said Bishop Malone."On advice from my Child Protection Officer and others, there is no barrier to Fr Peter's return toministry."After more than three years of anxious waiting Fr Peter is understandably bruised by his experience. He and I are grateful to his family and friends for their loving support of him duringwhat has been a traumatic experience."By his own choice, Fr Peter will ease back into ministry in a quiet way. He is free to celebrateMass. Initially, he will focus his considerable talents on ministry to adults and supporting ourclergy."Please continue to keep him and his family in your prayers. I am disappointed at the time it hastaken to arrive at this result." http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24216
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TODAY'S SAINT: NOV. 17: ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
St. Elizabeth of HungaryPRINCESS OF HUNGARYFeast: November 17Information:Feast Day:November 17Born:1207 at Presburg, HungaryDied:17 November 1231, Marburg, GermanyCanonized:1235, Perugia, ItalyMajor Shrine:Elisabeth Church (Marburg)Patron of:hospitals, nurses, bakers, brides, countesses, dying children, exiles, homeless people, lacemakers, tertiaries and widowsAlso called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, born in Hungary, probably at Pressburg, 1207; died at Marburg, Hesse, 17 November (not 19 November), 1231. She was a daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary (1205-35) and his wife Gertrude, a member of the family of the Counts of Andechs-Meran; Elizabeth's brother succeeded his father on the throne of Hungary as Bela IV; the sister of her mother, Gertrude, was St. Hedwig, wife of Duke Heinrich I, the Bearded, of Silesia, while another saint, St. Elizabeth (Isabel) of Portugal (d. 1336), the wife of the tyrannical King Diniz of that country, was her great-niece. In 1211 a formal embassy was sent by Landgrave Hermann I of Thuringia to Hungary to arrange, as was customary in that age, a marriage between his eldest son Hermann and Elizabeth, who was then four years old. This plan of a marriage was the result of political considerations and was intended to be the ratification of a great alliance which in the political schemes of the time it was sought to form against the German Emperor Otto IV, a member of the house of Guelph, who had quarrelled with the Church. Not long after this the little girl was taken to the Thuringian court to be brought up with her future husband and, in the course of time, to be betrothed to him. The court of Thuringia was at this period famous for its magnificence. Its centre was the stately castle of the Wartburg, splendidly placed on a hill in the Thuringian Forest near Eisenach, where the Landgrave Hermann lived surrounded by poets and minnesingers, to whom he was a generous patron. Notwithstanding the turbulence and purely secular life of the court and the pomp of her surroundings, the little girl grew up a very religious child with an evident inclination to prayer and pious observances and small acts of self-mortification. These religious impulses were undoubtedly strengthened by the sorrowful experiences of her life. In 1213 Elizabeth's mother, Gertrude, was murdered by Hungarian nobles, probably out of hatred of the Germans. On 31 December, 1216, the oldest son of the landgrave, Hermann, who Elizabeth was to marry, died; after this she was betrothed to Ludwig, the second son. It was probably in these years that Elizabeth had to suffer the hostility of the more frivolous members of the Thuringian court, to whom the contemplative and pious child was a constant rebuke. Ludwig, however, must have soon come to her protection against any ill-treatment. The legend that arose later is incorrect in making Elizabeth's mother-in-law, the Landgravine Sophia, a member of the reigning family of Bavaria, the leader of this court party. On the contrary, Sophia was a very religious and charitable woman and a kindly mother to the little Elizabeth. The political plans of the old Landgrave Hermann involved him in great difficulties and reverses; he was excommunicated, lost his mind towards the end of his life, and died, 25 April, 1217, unreconciled with the Church. He was succeeded by his son Ludwig IV, who, in 1221, was also made regent of Meissen and the East Mark. The same year (1221) Ludwig and Elizabeth were married, the groom being twenty-one years old and the bride fourteen. The marriage was in every regard a happy and exemplary one, and the couple were devotedly attached to each other. Ludwig proved himself worthy of his wife. He gave his protection to her acts of charity, penance, and her vigils and often held Elizabeth's hands as she knelt praying at night beside his bed. He was also a capable ruler and brave soldier. The Germans call him St. Ludwig, an appellation given to him as one of the best men of his age and the pious husband of St. Elizabeth. They had three children: Hermann II (1222-41), who died young; Sophia (1224-84), who married Henry II, Duke of Brabant, and was the ancestress of the Landgraves of Hesse, as in the war of the Thuringian succession she won Hesse for her son Heinrich I, called the Child; Gertrude (1227-97), Elizabeth's third child, was born several weeks after the death of her father; in after-life she became abbess of the convent of Aldenburg near Wetzlar.Shortly after their marriage, Elizabeth and Ludwig made a journey to Hungary; Ludwig was often after this employed by the Emperor Frederick II, to whom he was much attached, in the affairs of the empire. In the spring of 1226, when floods, famine, and the pest wrought havoc in Thuringia, Ludwig was in Italy attending the Diet at Cremona on behalf of the emperor and the empire. Under these circumstances Elizabeth assumed control of affairs, distributed alms in all parts of the territory of her husband, giving even state robes and ornaments to the poor. In order to care personally for the unfortunate she built below the Wartburg a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to their wants; at the same time she aided nine hundred poor daily. It is this period of her life that has preserved Elizabeth's fame to posterity as the gentle and charitable Cheatelaine of the Wartburg. Ludwig on his return confirmed all she had done. The next year (1227) he started with the Emperor Frederick II on a crusade to Palestine but died, 11 September of the same year at Otranto, from the pest. The news did not reach Elizabeth until October, just after she had given birth to her third child. On hearing the tidings Elizabeth, who was only twenty years old, cried out: "The world with all its joys is now dead to me."The fact that in 1221 the followers of St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) made their first permanent settlement in Germany was one of great importance in the later career of Elizabeth. Brother Rodeger, one of the first Germans whom the provincial for Germany, Caesarius of Speier, received into the order, was for a time the spiritual instructor of Elizabeth at the Wartburg; in his teachings he unfolded to her the ideals of St. Francis, and these strongly appealed to her. With the aid of Elizabeth the Franciscans in 1225 founded a monastery in Eisenach; Brother Rodeger, as his fellow-companion in the order, Jordanus, reports, instructed Elizabeth, to observe, according to her state of life, chastity, humility, patience, the exercise of prayer, and charity. Her position prevented the attainment of the other ideal of St. Francis, voluntary and complete poverty. Various remarks of Elizabeth to her female attendants make it clear how ardently she desired the life of poverty. After a while the post Brother Rodeger had filled was assumed by Master Conrad of Marburg, who belonged to no order, but was a very ascetic and, it must be acknowledged, a somewhat rough and very severe man. He was well known as a preacher of the crusade and also as an inquisitor or judge in cases of heresy. On account of the latter activity he has been more severely judged than is just; at the present day, however, the estimate of him is a fairer one. Pope Gregory IX, who wrote at times to Elizabeth, recommended her himself to the God-fearing preacher. Conrad treated Elizabeth with inexorable severity, even using corporal means of correction; nevertheless, he brought her with a firm hand by the road of self-mortification to sanctity, and after her death was very active in her canonization. Although he forbade her to follow St. Francis in complete poverty as a beggar, yet, on the other hand, by the command to keep her dower she was enabled to perform works of charity and tenderness.Up to 1888 it was believed, on account of the testimony of one of Elizabeth's servants in the process of canonization, that Elizabeth was driven from the Wartburg in the winter of 1227 by her brother-in-law, Heinrich Raspe, who acted as regent for her son, then only five years old. About 1888 various investigators (Börner, Mielke, Wenck, E. Michael, etc.) asserted that Elizabeth left the Wartburg voluntarily, the only compulsion being a moral one. She was not able at the castle to follow Conrad's command to eat only food obtained in a way that was certainly right and proper. Lately, however, Huyskens (1907) tried to prove that Elizabeth was driven from the castle at Marburg in Hesse, which was hers by dower right. Consequently, the Te Deum that she directed the Franciscans to sing on the night of her expulsion would have been sung in the Franciscan monastery at Marburg. Accompanied by two female attendants, Elizabeth left the castle that stands on a height commanding Marburg. The next day her children were brought to her, but they were soon taken elsewhere to be cared for. Elizabeth's aunt, Matilda, Abbess of the Benedictine nunnery of Kitzingen near Würzburg, took charge of the unfortunate landgravine and sent her to her uncle Eckbert, Bishop of Bamberg. The bishop, however, was intent on arranging another marriage for her, although during the lifetime of her husband Elizabeth had made a vow of continence in case of his death; the same vow had also been taken by her attendants. While Elizabeth was maintaining her position against her uncle the remains of her husband were brought to Bamberg by his faithful followers who had carried them from Italy. Weeping bitterly, she buried the body in the family vault of the landgraves of Thuringia in the monastery of Reinhardsbrunn. With the aid of Conrad she now received the value of her dower in money, namely two thousand marks; of this sum she divided five hundred marks in one day among the poor. On Good Friday, 1228, in the Franciscan house at Eisenach Elizabeth formally renounced the world; then going to Master Conrad at Marburg, she and her maids received from him the dress of the Third Order of St. Francis, thus being among the first tertiaries of Germany. In the summer of 1228 she built the Franciscan hospital at Marburg and on its completion devoted herself entirely to the care of the sick, especially to those afflicted with the most loathsome diseases. Conrad of Marburg still imposed many self-mortifications and spiritual renunciations, while at the same time he even took from Elizabeth her devoted domestics. Constant in her devotion to God, Elizabeth's strength was consumed by her charitable labours, and she passed away at the age of twenty-four, a time when life to most human beings is just opening.Very soon after the death of Elizabeth miracles began to be worked at her grave in the church of the hospital, especially miracles of healing. Master Conrad showed great zeal in advancing the process of canonization. By papal command three examinations were held of those who had been healed: namely, in August, 1232, January, 1233, and January, 1235. Before the process reached its end, however, Conrad was murdered, 30 July, 1233. But the Teutonic Knights in 1233 founded a house at Marburg, and in November, 1234, Conrad, Landgrave of Thuringia, the brother-in-law of Elizabeth, entered the order. At Pentecost (28 May) of the year 1235, the solemn ceremony of canonization of the "greatest woman of the German Middle Ages" was celebrated by Gregory IX at Perugia, Landgrave Conrad being present. In August of the same year (1235) the corner-stone of the beautiful Gothic church of St. Elizabeth was laid at Marburg; on 1 May, 1236, Emperor Frederick II attended the taking-up of the body of the saint; in 1249 the remains were placed in the choir of the church of St. Elizabeth, which was not consecrated until 1283. Pilgrimages to the grave soon increased to such importance that at times they could be compared to those to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela. In 1539 Philip the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hesse, who had become a Protestant, put an end to the pilgrimages by unjustifiable interference with the church that belonged to the Teutonic Order and by forcibly removing the relics and all that was sacred to Elizabeth. Nevertheless, the entire German people still honour the "dear St. Elizabeth" as she is called; in 1907 a new impulse was given to her veneration in Germany and Austria by the celebration of the seven hundredth anniversary of her birth. St. Elizabeth is generally represented as a princess graciously giving alms to the wretched poor or as holding roses in her lap; in the latter case she is portrayed either alone or as surprised by her husband, who, according to a legend, which is, however, related of other saints as well, met her unexpectedly as she went secretly on an errand of mercy, and, so the story runs, the bread she was trying to conceal was suddenly turned into roses.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/E/stelizabethofhungary.asp
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TODAY'S GOSPEL: NOV. 17: Matthew 25: 31 - 40
Matthew 25: 31 - 4031"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,33and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.34Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'37Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?38And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?39And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'40And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
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