 The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Third Order Regular of Saint Francis. It is a fitting time to highlight two saints, Elizabeth of Hungary and Louis, King of France, and the reasons they are considered patrons of both the Third Order Regular and the Secular Franciscan Order. For centuries, both have been venerated as examples of the Franciscan way of life and intercessors between God and His people.
The following is taken from an article written in 2007 by the Most Reverend Michael J. Higgins, TOR, Minister General of the Third Order Regular, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the birth of Saint Elizabeth.
The concept of patron saints is based on the dogma of the Communion of Saints and on the Pauline doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. “Individual patron saints are those who through ancient tradition or through legitimate election are venerated with a particular cult by the clergy and people of a location as special protectors and advocates before God” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 2). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997) states that the saints were “put in charge of many things,” including to “…contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 2). In their roles as examples of faith, intercessors before God, and protectors of the faithful, they are considered “patron saints.”
From the first mention of Sts. Peter and Paul as “…great patrons and friends of our Lord Jesus Christ” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 2) in a 2nd century text, to the 6th century widespread practice of collecting relics of the saints and the custom of setting aside special days to venerate them and ask for their intercession, to the continuing practice of designating particular saints as having a special connection to churches, cities, towns, occupations, or human interests, patron saints have served as objects of prayer, inspiration, and intercession between God and ourselves and our world.
Research will yield no official document from the early centuries of the Franciscan movement that clearly identifies Elizabeth and Louis as patron saints of the Third Order Regular and the Secular Franciscan Order. The reason for this is that popular devotion to the saints is not often written in official documents, but rather grows from tradition, formal election, or a sense of identification with them and a desire to emulate their examples.
Francis himself appointed the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Advocate of the Order, and, Celano states, “placed under her wings the sons he left behind, that she might protect and cherish them to the end” (2C 198). She retains the special place of honor in the Franciscan family and is revered as its principal Advocate and Patron. Chapter 1 of the Third Order Regular Constitutions, entitled The Charism of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, Title 1, Our Identity, concludes by stating that the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis is placed under the protection of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, its heavenly patron. The friars also venerate as their patrons Saint Louis, King of France, and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary” (Franciscan Constitutions, Art. 6). The Ritual of the Secular FranciscanOrder also highlights the two patron saints in the section entitled, “Profession in the Secular Franciscan Order: Within the Mass,” indicating that when the profession is part of a Eucharistic celebration, the Mass can use the liturgy of the day, or choose a votive Mass of Saint Francis or Saint Louis King or Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Thus, the connection of these saints to the history and tradition of the Franciscans is clear.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Elizabeth, canonized on May 27, 1235, in the Church of Saint Dominick of Perugia, was the third person – after Francis in 1228 and Anthony of Padua in 1232—to be canonized by Pope Gregory IX. Though there has been some debate as to whether she was an “official” member of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, recent scholarship clearly affirms that Elizabeth was “indeed a Franciscan in every sense of the word—spiritually, canonically, and intentionally—and that she can clearly be numbered among Franciscan tertiaries” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 1).
The secular and religious canonical structures of the Third Order were still evolving during Elizabeth’s life and not delineated until long after her death. However, in both her secular life as wife and mother and in her widowhood and profession of vows under the direction of the Friars Minor, she lived the Franciscan way of life, moving closer to religious life in the years before her death. Pope Gregory IX presented her as a model of the penitential life.
Regardless of her “official” standing as a professed Franciscan, Elizabeth of Hungary embodies what both secular and religious tertiary Franciscans strive to emulate: “a woman so deeply in love with her Lord and her Church, and so open and willing to follow the Divine will, that she exemplifies everything it means to be a Franciscan penitent” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 2).
Saint Louis, King of France
Louis, beloved King of France, was honored by the Franciscans even before his death. It is doubtful that he was a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, but his love of and generosity to them and to other mendicant groups, including the Dominicans, is clear.
Saint Bonaventure, at the General Chapter at Narbonne in 1260, proposed that suffrages for the King be celebrated by the Order on a yearly basis. That proposal was approved by the Order at the General Chapter of 1263 in Padua. It is an indication of the regard in which Louis was held by the Franciscans that the only other people to receive a similar honor in the 13th century from the Friars minor—after their deaths—were Popes.
Since his death in 1270 and his canonization on August 11, 1297, Louis has continued to be honored by Franciscan tertiaries and received by the Third Order as one of their own.
There are many instances in which Elizabeth and Louis are lovingly portrayed in art, honored in song and story, and included in the official legislation of the Orders, even in the early centuries of the Franciscan movement. Their example remains in today’s world as fitting as it was during their lifetimes. “Both of them in their own way demonstrate the five elements of penance that Francis encouraged the penitents to embrace: love of God, love of neighbor, hatred of sin, reception of the Eucharist, and lives that produce ‘worthy fruits of penance’(1LtF 1-4)” (as cited in Higgins, 2007, p. 6).
By Kathleen Gilmour
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