A (Belated) Saintly Salute

Today is the Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

Or, so I thought, for my entire life as a Cafeteria Catholic. Turns out, the Church switched things up almost 40 years ago. Elizabeth's feast day is now Nov. 17th.

Ooops.

So, why does an ordinary, run-of-the-mill Cafeteria Catholic care about what day the anniversary of the death of a 24-year-old nun in 13th century Hungary?

Well, Elizabeth is the middle name my parents gave me years ago on this day. They picked it because I was born on the Feast of St. Elizabeth. And, through my Catholic upbringing, bearing the name of the saint with whom I shared a special day was quite an honor. When it came to sharing patron saint stories in Catholic school, I always felt like I had a winner. Turning a basket of bread into roses is powerful stuff!

Over the years, I've baked a basket of bread or two. And, in that act, I've always felt a bit of a connection to "my saint". In fact, I've set aside this birthday to bake dozens of dinner rolls for our Thanksgiving feast. That's what got me thinking about St. Elizabeth. I did a bit of quick research and was disappointed to discover the "reform" of the Roman Calendar in 1969 meant Elizabeth's feast day moved back two days.

Yep. I missed the memo.

So, which saint IS being honored this day? Actually, there are several. But, have to say, there isn't a good middle name in the bunch.

Wonder how Mom and Dad would've felt about Medana? Or, Mechtildis? Or, Ermenberga?

Elizabeth has such a nice ring to it.