We’ve all been touched by death in one way or another. How has death touched your life? 

For Elizabeth of Hungary, death came out of nowhere and knocked the wind right out of her. Just a few weeks before she was due to give birth, Elizabeth’s husband caught a fever and was gone before she even had a chance to say goodbye. At just 20 years old, Elizabeth had a choice to make: Will I let this tragic death lead me to despair or will I listen to the voice of God and do what he tells me to do? 

Lucky for the world, Elizabeth chose to listen to the voice of God. This doesn’t mean that Elizabeth wasn’t devastated by her husband’s death—in the aftermath she said, “He is dead. He is dead. It is to me as if the whole world died today.” But still she listened to God’s voice in her life and followed where it led. Eventually, she became a nun and felt inspired to build a hospital for the poor and the sick with her own money. She became known across the region for her faith, kindness, and willingness to do the will of God. 

Sometimes the tragedy of death can stop us right in our tracks. And it can take time to get back on our feet. But no matter how death has impacted your life, take some time to listen to the voice of God today. 

God speaks to us through the Scriptures, the Sacraments, Tradition, other people, situations and circumstances, dreams, visions, apparitions, and prophecy. Sometimes he speaks to us through our emotions and intuition, through our pain and suffering. He speaks to us in the depths of our souls. God goes to heroic lengths to guide, warn, coach, and direct his children. Not just in the past, but here and now, today. 

In the book of Exodus, when Moses was about to die, he said to Joshua and the people of Israel, “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.” (Deuteronomy 30:15) 

Will you choose life and prosperity or death and adversity? How will you know which path leads to life and prosperity and which path leads to death and adversity? Great question. Glad you asked it. You will know by listening to the voice of God. By allowing the God of all creation to speak into the moments and circumstances of your life—even and perhaps especially in the tragic ones.



Feast Day: November 17

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus

Patron Saint of: Hospitals, Nurses, Falsely Accused People, Bakers, Brides, Dying Children, The Homeless, Lace-Makers, and Widows

Symbols: Roses, Crown, and a Food Basket

Canonized: May 27, 1235

Canonized By: Pope Gregory IX