The Revelations of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

X.

Moreover, the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, was groaning in spiritual affliction for three years because it seemed to her that she could not have her own confessor. Consequently, whenever she wanted to make her confession, God the Father, taking pity on her desolation, assigned her St John the Evangelist as confessor, instructing him that whenever she wanted to confess he should himself hear her, and absolve her by his authority. It was God's will that when she confessed to St John, she would fully call to mind all her sins. But when she confessed to her other confessor, she could scarcely remember what she should say, and after his absolution she did not remain happy and joyful as she did when she confessed to St John.

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

XI.

It happened that one day the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, suffered from some accursed woman a great and remarkable injury, by which to human eyes she seemed seriously hurt. When at last she recovered herself, mindful that she had suffered an injury, and inflamed by a fervent attack of charity, she turned to prayer. Praying devoutly, with unspeakable groaning and lengthy shedding of tears, she began to petition the Most High for the aforesaid woman and for all others from whom she had received some injury. She broke out in these words, "Sweet and merciful Father and eternal God, you who render good for evil, I ask that you should render to the woman who did me this injury remarkable joy of timely consolation, so that she may rejoice. From this ought I to rejoice, if I were your daughter."

When she had said this, suddenly a voice sounded in her ears, saying, "Elizabeth, you have never framed any prayer that pleased me as much as this one. For this has pierced right to the depths of my heart. And so I declare to you that all your sins are forgiven you." And when she was enumerating one by one all those which she held in her recent memory, saying, "I did such and such," the voice replied, "These and all others are forgiven you."

Then she said, "You -- who are you that speak to me and forgive all my sins?" And the voice said to her, "I am he to whose feet Mary Magdalene drew near, and went away cleansed of every sin" (Mt 26:6-13 etc.).

Once while the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, was considering in prayer what she could do that might greatly please God, she heard a voice saying to her, "Hope in the Lord and do good and dwell in the land and you shall feed on its riches. Delight in the Lord and he will give you the requests of your heart. Hope in him and he himself shall perform it and he shall lead forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the midday sun. Be subject to the Lord and pray to him" (Ps 36:3-7).

One day when the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, was persevering in prayer and was most bitterly weeping over her sins, Jesus who is the comforter of those who mourn appeared to her and said, "My dearest daughter, let not the memory of your sins trouble or sadden you, for all your sins are forgiven you." And when she replied to the contrary and said that she was convinced that if he wished to treat her with justice and not mercy, she ought to be condemned to the pains of hell, Jesus replied and said, "My daughter, justice has already been done to God the Father for your sins, and full satisfaction made to him already for everything, according to the demands of justice. For if you have offended God with all the limbs of your body, I have suffered for your sins and those of the entire human race in all the limbs of my body. For if you have offended with your hands and feet, my hands and my feet were fixed with harshest nails to the wood of the cross. If you have offended with your head, my head was lacerated most painfully with thorns. If with your eyes, my eyes were bound and covered with a blindfold. If with your ears, my ears heard blasphemies and revolting insults. If with your tongue, my tongue was sprinkled with strong vinegar and torn. If with your heart, my heart was pierced with a lance. If you have offended God with your entire body, my entire body has been scourged, so that from the soles of my feet to the top of my head there could be seen in me no trace of wholeness (Is 1:6). You can therefore see, daughter, that suitable satisfaction has been most justly done to God the Father for your sins. Truly, I have borne in my heart the languors of every sin and their sorrows - I who did no sin, nor was any guile found in my mouth" (Is 53:9).

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The Revelations of St. Elizabeth

XII.

Moreover the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, was praying on when suddenly with the eyes of her mind she saw a hand which had long fingers and a wide broad palm. In the midst of the palm was a bleeding wound. She immediately understood that it was the hand of Christ. She was wondering why it was so slender and long: immediately she was given the answer that it was so slender because when Christ was living in the flesh, during the night he held his hands stretched out in prayer, and during the day while preaching the kingdom of God through the towns and villages, he toiled with his hands, feet, and whole body.

After this she heard a voice saying to her, "Elizabeth, for the third time I say to you, your sins are forgiven you and you have my grace." She replied to this voice, "Lord, if I am made as holy as you say, why is it that I cannot stop myself from offending your majesty in some way every day?" The voice said to her, "Because if you did not sometimes offend, you would not be so humbled and consequently you would not love me so much and you would become worse than the devils, who believe and tremble (Jas 2:19). Therefore I have not sanctified you to such an extent that you are unable to sin. But it is enough for you that I have given you so much grace that, rather than willingly offend me mortally, you would allow yourself to be killed, and to die."

Having said this, Christ appeared fully to her. It seemed to her that frothing, foaming blood flowed abundantly from his side. She began to wonder at this, and Christ said to her, "Do not wonder, daughter, for when I was hanging on the cross, because of the extremity of pain all my limbs were dislocated, my vital organs were shattered and my veins opened. And so the blood from my side was abundant like this, and flowed out foaming."

All that has been said above, the handmaid of Christ, Elizabeth, asserted around the time of her death (which took place in the year of our Lord 1231) she had seen and heard. She used to say that she had such great certainty concerning all these things that she would rather choose death than doubt that even the smallest part of it were not true.