Elija Mission

Blessed Elizabeth of Hungary—who, although related, should not be confused with Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia—was the daughter of King Andrew III. Orphaned at an early age, she suffered under the harsh yoke of a stepmother who rejected her: Queen Agnes of Habsburg. She was destined to marry Prince Wenceslaus of Bohemia. However, after her father’s death, Elizabeth was stripped of her royal inheritance, causing Wenceslaus to lose interest in her. Elizabeth was imprisoned with her stepmother in the royal palace in Budapest and was then intended to become the wife of the Duke of Austria. But events took a different turn.

When her stepmother’s father was murdered, her stepmother took her to Swabia to seek revenge. Once there, she decided that Elizabeth should enter a convent but allowed her to choose it freely. Elizabeth, who was 16 years old at the time, resigned herself to her fate and chose the Dominican convent of Töss. Her stepmother insisted that she take the habit and make her vows after only fifteen weeks. The young woman, the legitimate heir to the throne of Hungary, gave in.

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Today we will talk about a lesser-known blessed in the Catholic Church: Blessed Stefana. She was born in the 17th century into a noble Calvinist family in Gex, France. At that time, there were great tensions between Catholics and various Protestant denominations. Stefana was said to be a cheerful and friendly girl, but she was so immersed in her erroneous beliefs that she mocked the customs and ceremonies of the Catholic Church. She would sometimes sneak into Catholic churches just to play pranks. For example, she would wash her hands in the holy water font and commit other similar acts of irreverence.

However, the Lord did not leave Stefana in confusion. Since no one was there to teach her and help her recognize the truth, the Lord Himself intervened. On the Feast of Corpus Christi, Stefana watched the procession from her home. Then, it was as if Christ were looking at her from the monstrance. Suddenly, a heavenly ray fell upon her soul, illuminating it and making her recognize with complete clarity the truth of Catholicism and the falsehood of the belief she had professed until then. At that moment, her heart instantly decided to convert to Catholicism at any cost and to serve the Lord fervently. She then exclaimed inwardly with the prophet: “bring me back that I may be restored” (Jeremiah 31:18).

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When we begin to discover the lives of the saints, we often come across extraordinary stories. Such is the case of Saints Chrysanthus and Darius, martyrs of the first centuries, whose memory is celebrated today in the ancient liturgical calendar.

The following is told about today’s saints:

Saint Chrysanthus was the son of pagan parents. His father, Polemius, was a senator in Alexandria and was held in such high esteem by the Emperor Numerianus that he brought him to Rome and made him his counsellor.

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According to the traditional calendar, today is the feast day of St. Raphael the Archangel. Describing an angel is undoubtedly much more difficult than describing the life of a saint. The latter are usually well documented and more accessible to us. Nevertheless, we should strive to become more familiar with our friends in heaven—without letting our imaginations run away with us.

Angels are often discussed in esoteric circles. However, without clear discernment of spirits, it is easy for our imagination to suggest illusory ideas about angels that do not correspond to reality—or even to be deceived by the devil. We cannot overlook the fact that demons still possess an angelic nature and are therefore endowed with an intelligence superior to ours, making it easy for them to mislead those who are not firmly rooted in the true faith. Therefore, before discussing the Archangel Saint Raphael, it is important to review what the Church teaches us about these beings. This will provide us with the criteria to better recognize faithful angels.

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What would Spain be without Saint Anthony Mary Claret?

In 1861, a prominent anarchist wrote, “If it hadn’t been for Father Claret, Catalonia would have understood the message of the revolution. With his thousands of extraordinarily popular sermons, this tireless man managed to re-Christianize the whole of Catalonia. After completely transforming Catalonia, he did the same in the Canary Islands and, later, in Cuba, where Catholicism was dying out. But that was not the worst of it. His time in Madrid was a catastrophe for the Spanish revolutionary movement.”

Who was this man who exerted so much influence and had such a profound impact on the political arena despite not being a politician himself?

Antonio María Claret was born in Sallent, near Barcelona, in 1807. Like his brothers, he helped in his parents’ textile business and demonstrated such talent in his higher studies that he was entrusted with taking over a large company. However, the Lord had heard his prayers, as from a very young age he had asked for the grace of the priesthood.

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