Have you ever noticed that when people fall in love their priorities change? 

If a close friend falls in love, you will probably discover she has less time to spend with you because her priority is to spend time with her love interest. It isn't personal. It's natural and normal. Why? Love rearranges our priorities. And our priorities reveal who and what we love.

Saint Elizabeth of Schonau saw God’s immense love for her. She loved him back, and it rearranged her priorities.

Elizabeth became a Benedictine nun at the age of 18. Almost immediately, she started having mystical visions and spiritual revelations. These experiences were characterized by profound encounters with saints, angels, and even Jesus himself. Elizabeth's visions were not merely personal mystical experiences. They revealed a God who expressed infinite love for each and every person—a God who was love itself. She wrote down these visions and they became widely distributed. You can still read them today.

Elizabeth's writings also provided guidance for the Church and world leaders. Kings and rulers came to her monastery in Germany from all over Europe, seeking guidance. Elizabeth told them to rule according to the virtue of love. And what is this love?

The virtue of love allows us to care for another even more than we care for our own self. It is an overflow of the goodness that God places in your heart. Love gives us the grace to make large and small sacrifices without harboring any ill will or resentment toward the object of our love. With every act of love, with every sacrifice for love's sake, our capacity to love grows.

Elizabeth’s love was not confined to the spiritual realms alone. It was a living, breathing force that propelled her into action. As the abbess of her monastery, her leadership was marked by a profound empathy and care for the nuns under her guidance. Love made their needs her priority.

Saint Elizabeth of Schonau learned how to love from God himself. She knew that in order to love God fully, she needed to love others. She let love rearrange her priorities.

Will you do the same?



Patron Saint of: Against Temptations

Feast Day: June 18

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Gregory Barbarigo and Saint Marina the Monk