[Rank]
S. Elisabeth Reg. Portugalliae, Viduae;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide C7a

[Rule]
vide C7a;
9 lectiones

[Hymnus Vespera]
v. Pure, meek, with soul serene,
Sweeter to her it was to serve unseen
Her God, than reign a queen.
_
Now far above our sight,
Enthroned upon the star-paved azure height,
She reigns in realms of light;
_
So long as time shall flow,
Teaching to all who sit on thrones below,
The good that power can do.
_
To God, the Sire and Son
And Paraclete, be glory, Trine in One,
While endless ages run. 
Amen.

[Versum 1]
V. Pray for us, blessed Elizabeth.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

[Ant 1]
And now, * O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.

[Oratio]
O most merciful God, Who didst ennoble the blessed Queen Elizabeth with diverse excellent graces, and withal with a gift of stilling the tempest of war, grant unto us through her pleading, in this dying life that peace for which we humbly pray, and hereafter to attain unto everlasting joy in thy Presence.
$Per Dominum

[Invit]
For the holy works of blessed Elizabeth, * Let us praise our God.

[Lectio4]
Elizabeth, daughter of Peter III., King of Aragon, was born in the year of Christ 1271, and it was an omen of her saintly life; that her father and mother, contrary to the usual custom, caused her to be baptized, not by the name of her mother or grandmother, but by that of her mother's aunt, the holy Lady Elizabeth of Thuringia. As soon as ever she was born, her destiny of being a peacemaker between kings and kingdoms began to appear, for the joy of her birth put an end to the ruinous quarrels of her father and grandfather. As she grew up, her father, delighted with her disposition, was used to foretell that his Elizabeth would in herself excel all the daughters of the kingly house of Aragon, and that the happiness of his own home and kingdom was all owing to this one damsel, whose heavenly life he venerated for her indifference to bodily finery, her abstinence from pleasures, her many fasts, her instancy in prayer to God, and her activity in doing works of charity. This illustrious maiden was sought in marriage by many princes, and at twelve years of age was wedded with Christian rites to Denis, King of Portugal.

[Lectio5]
As a wife, she gave herself up as much to the education of her children, as to her own improvement, striving in all ways, next to God, to please her husband. For nearly half the year, she was used to live on bread and water, and once, when she was ill, God changed the water into wine, which the physicians had ordered her to drink, but which she was unwilling to take. Once when she kissed a disgusting ulcer in a poor woman, it was immediately healed. One winter-time when she was giving some money to the poor, and was fain her husband should not see her alms, the coins changed into roses. She gave sight to a maiden who had been born blind, and healed many other persons of grievous sicknesses by the Sign of the Cross. The miracles of this kind, which she worked, were many. She not only built, but richly endowed convents, schools, and churches. She had a wonderful skill in making peace between kings, and toiled unweariedly to lighten all suffering, whether public or private.

[Lectio6]
King Denis died (on the 6th day of January, 1325,) and Elizabeth, who in her maidenhood had been a pattern to virgins, and in her married life to wives, now, in her loneliness, was an example to widows. Clad in the raiment of the nuns of St. Clare, she faithfully attended at the King's funeral, and soon after went to Compostella, where she offered many precious gifts, of silk, and gold, and silver, and precious stones, for the benefit of his soul. Thence she returned home, and spent in holy and godly uses everything that remained to her that was dear and costly, eager to relieve every kind of suffering. She lived, not for herself, but for God, and to be useful to mankind. She finished the convent for nuns, right worthy of a Queen, which she had founded at Coimbra. She fed the poor, defended widows, protected orphans. A war being lighted up between her son Alphonsus IV, King of Portugal, and her grandson Alphonsus V, King of Castile, she resolved to set out to reconcile them, and went to the famous city of Estremoz, upon the borders of the two kingdoms. On the journey, she caught a violent fever, of which, after a vision of the Virgin Mother of God, she died a saintly death on the 4th day of July, in the year 1336. She became illustrious for miracles after her death, especially for the sweetness of the savour of her body, which hath now remained uncorrupt for well-nigh three hundred years, and she hath always been spoken of as the Holy Queen Elizabeth. At length, in the year of our salvation 1625, which was that of the Jubilee, Urban VIII, all Christendom gathered together and approving, formally enrolled her name among those of the Saints.

[Hymnus Laudes]
v. Riches and regal throne, for Christ's dear sake,
True saint, thou didst despise;
Amid the angels seated now in bliss,
Oh, help us from the skies!
_
Guide us; and fill our days with perfume sweet
Of loving word and deed;
So teaches us thy beauteous charity,
By fragrant roses hid.
_
O charity! what power is thine! by thee
Above the stars we soar;
In thee be purest praise to Father, Son
And Spirit, evermore.
Amen.

[Versum 2]
V. By the merits and prayers of blessed Elizabeth.
R. Be thou, O Lord, propitious to thy people.

[Ant 2]
Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem, * thou art the great glory of Israel, thou art the great rejoicing of thy nation.

[Versum 3] (rubrica divino aut rubrica 1955 aut rubrica 1960)
V. Pray for us, blessed Elizabeth.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

[Ant 3]
Mother of peace and of thy Fatherland, * Elizabeth, now victorious in heaven, gain for us peace.

[Lectio94]
Elizabeth was born of the royal family of Aragon in the year of our Lord 1271. The joy of her birth put an end to the unhappy quarrels between her grandfather and her father, thus making it clear from the outset that she would be a blessed peacemaker between kings and kingdoms. She was remarkable for the way in which she chastised her body, for her constancy in prayer, and for her exercise of the works of charity. When she was married to Denis, King of Portugal, she devoted herself no less to the work of cultivating virtue than to that of educating her children, striving to please her husband, but still more to please God. She not only had monasteries, colleges and churches built, but gave them magnificent endowments. She was wonderful in settling the disputes of kings, unwearied in relieving the private and public calamities of her fellow-men, and famous for her miracles. When King Denis had died, she put on the habit of the Seraphic Order, and whatever she had that was dear and precious to her she offered at the church of Compostella for the soul of the king and used for works of devotion and mercy. Finally, having fallen ill as a result of a journey she made to establish peace between two kings, her son and her grandson, she died a most holy death, after receiving a visit from the Virgin Mother of God. Famous for miracles, she was enrolled among the Saints by Urban VIII.
&teDeum