My heart instantly clung to Saint Elisabeth as soon as her canonization was announced last year. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I felt her like a sister. I didn't know much about her, although the internet had been buzzing for many years with videos showing a hermit from the Giumalău Mountains. But my sinful mind, what was it to think: "Another spectacle at the Church's expense!".
And, as God works with and without time, but always brings you face to face with a miracle at the right time for you, He "remembered me"... And so, after learning of her canonization, I started reading a bit more about her, but especially looking at photographs and various images.
My personal encounter with the Saint was when my father passed away! The day before the funeral, I was feeling very ill due to health problems, now compounded by everything that comes with losing a parent unexpectedly... I was still under treatment, but the pain was unbearable. In those days, I drove hundreds of kilometers, up and down hills, in and around the city... and I felt like I couldn't go on like that anymore. By nature, I am very shy and prefer to endure anything, including pain, just to not bother anyone. But at that moment, I mustered the courage to call the doctor. By God's grace, the doctor made room for me among the already scheduled multitude of patients and... I went. 5:30 PM!
I quietly sat on the chair. In one hand, I held the latest ultrasound, which was not good at all; in the other, my prayer beads. But what prayer?! I was trembling as if I was being electrocuted. Stress, physical pain, emotional pain, the pain of the situation I was in... in short, I was all pain. I didn't know how to control myself, especially with two happy families in front of me, waiting to see their babies' condition.
And suddenly, in my mind, I started: "Saint Elisabeth, Saint Elisabeth, Saint Elisabeth..." I don't think I'm exaggerating if I say I repeated it a thousand times. At the same time, I remembered how the Saint suffered from cancer and how she endured those agonizing pains... And, the more I repeated it, I felt how, little by little, I calmed down, started breathing normally... By the time I entered the doctor's office, I already felt like I was floating, all my pains were gone! And yes, the Saint had performed a miracle... she had calmed my soul! And yes, I can say that, at that moment, the healing was also physical.
Last night I watched the film about her life. Lying in bed, with the same pains and thinking of her. When the Saint's voice was heard, I felt something like the balm you put on a wound, and that coolness calms you, eases your pain. And I thought: from that bodily pain, God led her into the pains of Hell, and then into the beauties of Heaven! And when she awoke, she was different! She became an Angel in the flesh, as her former confessor also said: "She did not confess sins, she confessed daily mistakes."
You are left speechless! To come to love God so much! To leave what the world offers you, with its goodness and beauty, and to cling entirely to God! And all so naturally!
Saint Elisabeth is the naturalness of holiness in our days, showing us that it is possible, possible even today, even in the world, by following her words:
"Forgive others, never yourself!"
"That's it! May God forgive us! From now on, we wipe the slate clean and start over!"
"Forgive me, Lord, for I will be good!"
Alexandrina
Photo by Basilica.ro