The Revelations of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

translated, by Alexandra Barratt,
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

A Translation into Modern English, made from the Latin text in Cambridge Magdalene College MS F.4.14
Taken from here.

Table of Contents
Note from the Translator's Introduction
Here begin the visions of the blessed virgin Elizabeth, daughter of the king of Hungary.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
Notes

Note from the Translator's Introduction

Although today virtually unknown, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Revelations of St. Elizabeth of Hungary circulated in two Latin and two Middle English versions, as well as in French, Italian, Spanish and Catalan. Elsewhere I have discussed the problems of their authorship, date, and original language and have argued that the original text was written in Middle High German, probably by the Dominican nun Elsbet Stagel, Suso's spiritual daughter and biographer, and then translated (twice) into Latin. Further, I have suggested that the "Elizabeth of Hungary" with whom it claims to originate is not the popular St. Elizabeth of Thuringia (d. 1231) but her obscure great-niece, Elizabeth of Tob (d. 1336), like her aunt the daughter of a king of Hungary, who spent her short life as an enclosed Dominican nun in the convent of Tob, near Wintertur in Switzerland.

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

I.

One day blessed Elizabeth, constant in private prayer, was seeking Christ her spouse with devout mind and anxious spirit and was not finding him as she usually did. She began to cut short her prayer and grow concerned in her heart as to what the reason could be that her spouse was not visiting her, through the infusion of sweet consolations, as he had been accustomed to do at other times. When she had just made up her mind silently to have recourse to some friar for advice on this, the Virgin Mary appeared to her and said to her, "Elizabeth, if you are willing to be my pupil, I shall be your mistress."

She replied, "Who are you, mistress, who wish to have me as your pupil and handmaid?" The Virgin Mary replied to her, "I am the mother of the Son of the living God, whom you have chosen as master and spouse."

Then blessed Elizabeth fell to the ground and worshipped. On bended knees she placed her joined hands between the hands of the Virgin. The blessed Virgin said once again, "If you are willing to be my daughter, pupil, and handmaid, I shall be your mother, mistress, and teacher. And when you have been sufficiently instructed and educated by me, I shall lead you to your dear spouse my Son, who will receive you into his hands, as I have just now received you." Then she began to counsel her, saying, "Avoid disputes, quarrels, slanders and complaints. Do not lend your ears to complaints about yourself, nor allow your heart to become heavy on their account. But bear in mind that nothing so bad can be said of you but that something even worse could be said than what is said!"

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

II.

On the next feast of the Blessed Virgin following this, on that very day the handmaid of God, Elizabeth, was weeping most bitterly in prayer, fearing that she had not fully kept the advice of the Virgin mentioned above. There suddenly appeared to her, not in a dream but in a waking state, the blessed Virgin, who called her with sweet speech by her own name and said, "Elizabeth my sweetest daughter, do not torment yourself so greatly because you have not completely conformed to my perfection. But struggle constantly against sin and say just once the great angelic greeting with which Gabriel, God's messenger, greeted me, and every offence shall be generously forgiven you by my Son."

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

III.

In the process of time, on the day of the feast of St Scholastica, the handmaid of God, Elizabeth, was continuing steadfastly in prayer. As she prayed she was weeping most bitterly, because she could not restrain herself from audible groans and vocal cries. Suddenly there appeared to her the Blessed Virgin Mary, accompanied by John the Evangelist. The Blessed Virgin said, "Elizabeth, you have chosen me as your mother, mistress, and teacher. But I want you to draw me up a document concerning this choice and freely-willed promise, so that you cannot go back on your decision. For that purpose I have brought with me my Son's beloved disciple, John the Evangelist, so that if you agree he will draw up a public document." Then blessed Elizabeth, on bended knees and with joined hands, paid homage on the ground and said, "Do with me, my lady, as with your handmaid, whatever you please." And she confirmed this donation with an oath. And St John, on the instructions of the blessed Virgin Mary, drew up a public document to this effect.

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

IV.

Once on the Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord while praying with great concentration, she was reciting the Hail Mary in a loud voice, with much devotion and shedding of tears. The Blessed Virgin appeared to her in visible form and said to her, "I have come to teach you the prayer which I made as a young girl when I was still living in the Temple. I resolutely decided in my heart that I wished to have God as father and I made up my mind to do whatever would please him, so that I might find favour in his sight. I made myself learn his law and all the commandments contained in it. In particular I committed to memory three commandments, being eager to keep them with the greatest care and with all my might. These are: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Love your neighbour as yourself (Dt 6:5). Love your friend and hate your enemy" (Lv 19:18 and Mt 5: 3). For I understood that man and angel were good, and my enemy was the devil and, insofar as he is evil, the evil man. From that love of God and neighbour, and from the fear and hatred of the enemy (that is, of the devil and sin), every fulness of grace and virtue has descended to me. That love cannot take root in the human heart unless there is there hatred of the enemy, that is, of the devil and sin.

"If therefore you wish to obtain that love, do as I did in the Temple in my earliest youth. For I would rise in the middle of the night and, standing before the altar with complete concentration of mind, I would ask the Lord for his grace by which I might be able to keep these commandments I have mentioned, and I would make seven petitions, one after the other, in prayer before the altar.

"The first was, that he would give me his grace by means of which I should be able to fulfill the first commandment, that is, on loving God above all things, with all my heart, all my mind and all my strength.

"The second was, that I should be able to fulfill the second commandment, on loving my neighbour as myself, and that he should make me love what he himself loved.

"The third was, that I should be able to fulfill the third commandment and that he should make me hate the enemy of the human race because from him derive vice, sin, and whatever he himself hates.

"The fourth was, that he should give me humility, patience, kindliness, gentleness and other virtues, by which I might be made lovely in his eyes.

"The fifth was, that he should allow me to see the time when that blessed virgin should be born who, according to the sayings of the prophets, was to bear his son; and that he would keep safe my eyes with which I might see her, my ears with which I might hear her speak, my tongue with which I might praise her, my hands with which I might touch her, my feet with which I might run to her, my knees on which I might do her homage, and see and do homage to her son lying on her lap.

"The sixth was, that he would give me grace by which I might be able to keep all the commandments of the priests and the rules of the Temple.

"The seventh and last was that he would deign to keep safe his holy Temple and all his own People, to serve him forever."

Having heard this, blessed Elizabeth burst out with these words: "Most excellent lady, were you not sanctified in your mother's womb? How was it that you said these things? Were you not free from every sin and filled with every grace?"

The Blessed Virgin replied, "Listen, Elizabeth. Undoubtedly, daughter, I was such as you say. However, you should know this in truth, that at that time I considered myself vile and wretched and unworthy of every grace of God's, just as you now consider yourself, and even more so. And so I was always asking God that he would deign to infuse into me his grace and strength."