Today’s Saint

November 5, 2011  | CatholicDaily.com

(Society of Saints) – Because of the important events of Salvation history that surround St Elizabeth’s life, we rarely pay attention to her unique holiness and seek her intercession and yet her holy life has much to teach us.

Our local Catholic primary school is under the patronage of St John the Baptist, and 2 or 3 Confirmations ago one of the teachers highlighted St Elizabeth as a good Confirmation patron. Several of the young girls took her as their patron, and this caused me to investigate St Elizabeth’s life more deeply.

The first thing St Luke’s Gospel tells us about St Elizabeth was that she was childless after many years of marriage. Only someone who has been through an extended period of infertility can really understand the depth of that pain. In the culture in which she lived, to be barren was to be shamed and looked down upon. To have a child was considered to have been given God’s best blessing, to not have a child was to be considered almost a curse. Even worse, as a descendant of Aaron, she had an obligation to continue the family line. St Elizabeth didn’t get bitter, she loved God and she prayed and served God in living out His commandments as faithfully as possible.

Read More: http://catholicdaily.net/societyofsaints/2011/11/05/keeper-of-gods-secret/