Elisabeth von Schönau

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Schönau monastery in the Taunus
The Elisabethen altar in the monastery church Kloster Schönau. In the middle of the picture the reliquary with the skullcap of St. Elisabeth von Schönau.

Elisabeth von Schönau (* 1129 near Cologne ; † June 18, 1164 in Schönau Monastery ) was a German Benedictine. She is venerated as a saint.

Life

At the age of twelve, Elisabeth was handed over by her parents in 1141 to the Benedictine nuns of the Schönau monastery on the outskirts of Strüth im Taunus ( Rhein-Lahn district ). There she was dressed as an 18-year-old in 1147.

In the years 1147 to 1152 Elisabeth suffered recurring diseases, anxiety and depression as a result of severe asceticism . Hildegard von Bingen warned Elisabeth in letters to be prudent in the ascetic life. At Pentecost in 1152, Elisabeth suffered from deep depression with rejection of all food and vomiting. Sin and fear of life as well as doubts about faith determined her life at this time. After a ten-day crisis, a series of visionary raptures followed. The Virgin Mary comforted Elisabeth in a vision.

In 1155 or 1156, Egbert , Elisabeth's brother, entered the men's convent of the Schönau monastery. Elisabeth abandoned herself entirely to the guidance of her biological brother. He directed them and wrote down their visions in Latin. In the time after her brother's arrival and under his influence lay the climax of Elisabeth's visionary show. Her main work Liber viarum dei - Book of the Ways of God - as well as the two other writings De resurrectione beatea mariae virginis - On the Resurrection of the Blessed Virgin Mary - and Liber revelationum de sacro exercitu verginim coloniensum - Book of the Revelation of the Holy Host of Cologne Virgins - originated in the years 1156 to 1159.

Elisabeth von Schönau died on June 18, 1164 in Schönau Monastery. Her early death was deeply lamented. For Schönau she left the prophecy “that worship and piety will never die in Schönau”. Their bones were buried at the Marien Altar.

Worship as saints

Because the population very soon venerated Elisabeth as a saint, her bones were reburied in a separate Elisabeth chapel under Abbot Johannes von Schwelm between 1493 and 1510. During the Thirty Years War , Swedish and Hessian soldiers attacked the Schönau monastery . The Swedes drove out the monks, plundered the monastery, broke up the grave of St. Elizabeth and scattered her bones. Only the skullcap was saved and is now kept in a reliquary on the right side altar of the church. The Elisabethenkapelle itself was destroyed in the great fire of the monastery in 1723 and not rebuilt.

In 1584 Elisabeth von Schönau was accepted as a saint in the Roman Martyrology . Her feast day is June 19th. Accordingly, the parish of Sankt Florin Kloster Schönau celebrates the traditional Elisabethen festival on the Sunday after June 18.

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Joachim KEMPER: The Benedictine double monastery Schönau and the visions of Elisabeth von Schönau .
  2. ↑ In 2006 a complete translation of the works of Saint Elisabeth von Schönau from Latin into German was presented for the first time. The works were introduced, translated and commented on by Peter Dinzelbacher. The publisher is the Catholic parish of Sankt Florin, Schönau Monastery .
personal data
SURNAME Elisabeth von Schönau
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Benedictine, saint
DATE OF BIRTH 1129
PLACE OF BIRTH near Cologne
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1164
Place of death Schoenau Monastery