St. Elizabeth, the Princess with a Big Heart
St. Elizabeth was a real princess who lived in a castle long ago. She loved Jesus, and she loved to share bread, toys and hugs with people in need!
St. Elizabeth
The Princess with a Big Heart
Bread and Roses!
Meet St. Elizabeth!
St. Elizabeth was a real princess who lived in a castle long ago. She loved Jesus, and she loved to share bread, toys and hugs with people in need!
She is also called St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Follow St. Elizabeth!
Let's follow the kind princess from castle to castle.
Story 1
A Little Princess
Hungary, 1211
Long ago, in a castle in Hungary, lived a little princess named Elizabeth. Her papa was the king, and her mama was the queen. When she was just four, she rode in a carriage to a faraway castle in Germany.
At the Wartburg castle, a boy named Ludwig was waiting for her. When they grew up, they would get married! For now, they would grow up together.
Let us pray
Dear God, thank You for my family and my friends.
Story 2
Best Friends
The Wartburg castle, Germany
Elizabeth and Ludwig played together every day. They played hopscotch and tag, and they ran to the chapel to visit Jesus. Ludwig called her his dear sister.
When Elizabeth was fourteen, she and Ludwig got married. They loved each other very much, and they both loved God!
Let us pray
Jesus, bless all the families in the world.
Story 3
Roses in the Cloak
The Wartburg, a snowy day
One snowy day, Elizabeth hid bread in her cloak to bring to hungry families. As she walked down the hill, she met Ludwig, back from hunting.
“What are you carrying?” Ludwig asked. Elizabeth opened her cloak. Out tumbled roses, red and pink, in the middle of winter!
Ludwig smiled. He knew God was helping Elizabeth to help the poor. From then on, he helped her too!
Let us pray
Dear God, help me to share with a happy heart.
Story 4
Bread for Everyone
Thuringia, Germany, 1226
One year, no rain fell and nothing grew in the fields. Many families had nothing to eat. Elizabeth's heart was sad for them.
So Elizabeth opened the castle storerooms! She gave out bread to everyone who came to the gate, every single day, until the hungry time was over.
Then she gave families seeds and tools, so they could grow their own food. Soon the fields were green and golden again!
Let us pray
Thank You, God, for our daily bread.
Story 5
Toys and Hugs
At the foot of the Wartburg
Elizabeth built a little hospital at the bottom of the castle hill, so that sick people had a warm place to rest and get better.
She visited every day. She brought toys for the children: little horses, dolls and balls. She sat on their beds and gave them hugs!
The children loved her and called her “Mother!” Elizabeth played with them, laughed with them and prayed with them.
Let us pray
Jesus, help me to cheer up someone who feels sick or sad.
Story 6
A Brave, Trusting Heart
The Wartburg, 1227
One day, Ludwig had to go on a long journey. Elizabeth waved goodbye. But Ludwig got very sick on the way, and he went home to Heaven.
Elizabeth was very sad and missed him so much. But she knew Ludwig was with Jesus. She prayed, “Jesus, I trust You,” and God gave her a brave heart.
Let us pray
Jesus, when I am sad, help me to trust You.
Story 7
The Kind Hospital
Marburg, Germany, 1228
Elizabeth moved to a little town called Marburg. She put on a plain grey dress, like St. Francis's friars. She spun wool to earn money for the poor.
She built a new hospital and cared for the sick herself. She fed them, washed them and made them laugh. She treated each person like Jesus Himself!
Elizabeth went to Heaven when she was only twenty-four. Today, many hospitals and helpers are named after her, and children still share bread and roses on her feast day.
Let us pray
St. Elizabeth, help me to see Jesus in everyone I help.
A Prayer to St. Elizabeth
Let's pray it together!
St. Elizabeth, you were a princess, but you shared everything with people in need. Help me to share my food and my toys, to visit people who are sick or lonely, and to give hugs with a happy heart. Help me to trust Jesus when I am sad. Amen.
A little prayer for little ones
Elizabeth, so kind and sweet, you gave the hungry bread to eat. Help me share and help me care, and spread God's love just everywhere! Amen.
Let's Count!
How many can you count? Write the number in the box.
Be Like St. Elizabeth!
Color in a rose each time you do it!
I can share my snack.
I can give a toy to someone.
I can cheer up someone who is sick.
I can give a big, kind hug.
I can say, “Jesus, I trust You!”
St. Elizabeth's Special Day
November 17
Every year on November 17, the Church celebrates St. Elizabeth, the princess with a big heart. Here are some fun ways to celebrate!
Share bread with others
Give someone a flower
Give a toy to a child
Pray for people who are sick
Color St. Elizabeth!
Share with a big heart!
You can be kind like Elizabeth!
St. Elizabeth was a princess, but she lived to serve others. When you share, help and give hugs, you are a lot like her. St. Elizabeth is cheering you on!
Dear Jesus, thank You for St. Elizabeth. Help me to share Your love with everyone. Amen.
For Grown-Ups
Where these stories come from: the testimonies of her companions and early biographers, and much-loved tradition, retold here simply and gently for young children.
A Little Princess. Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Queen Gertrude of Andechs-Merania. At four she was sent to the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia at the Wartburg, near Eisenach, to be raised with her future husband.
Best Friends. She grew up with Ludwig (Louis IV of Thuringia), who called her “sister.” They married in 1221, when she was fourteen and he twenty-one, and by all accounts were deeply devoted; they had three children.
Roses in the Cloak. The famous rose miracle is a later legend: carrying bread to the poor, she was stopped (in some tellings by Ludwig) and the bread had turned to roses. Ludwig supported her charity throughout their marriage.
Bread for Everyone. During the famine of 1226, while Ludwig was in Italy, she distributed the grain from the castle stores, fed hundreds of people daily at the castle gate, and gave the poor clothing, seeds and tools.
Toys and Hugs. She founded a hospital below the Wartburg and visited the sick every day. Her biographers mention her care for poor and orphaned children, for whom she bought little toys.
A Brave, Trusting Heart. Ludwig died of illness at Otranto in 1227 on his way to the Crusade. Elizabeth, then twenty, grieved deeply. We have kept this part gentle for young readers.
The Kind Hospital. In 1228 she settled in Marburg, joined the Franciscan Third Order, wore its plain grey habit, earned money by spinning wool, and founded a hospital dedicated to St. Francis, where she nursed the sick herself. She died on November 17, 1231, aged twenty-four, and was canonized in 1235. Her feast is November 17; she is patron of bakers, nurses, hospitals and charities.
St. Elizabeth, pray for us!
The end
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