Welcome to the ONE AND ONLY Saturday matchup of Lent Madness 2025! Today in a battle between two popular saints with fascinating backstories, it's Elizabeth of Hungary vs. Felicity.
Yesterday, Emily Cooper trounced Dunstan 82% to 18% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen.
We'll see you at church for the First Sunday in Lent (Great Litany, anyone?) and then see you back here first thing Monday morning for the first full week of saintly action as Gregory the Great takes on Hugh of Lincoln.
Vote now!
Elizabeth of Hungary
Elizabeth of Hungary is one of those saints whose halo hangs on a frame of simplicity. Though her young marriage was a political exchange, as they often were in 1221, she and her husband, Louis, seemed to have a happy noble marriage. She was highly influenced by the new Third Order of Saint Francis and began to give much of their wealth away, and though Louis did not share her pious leanings, was not bothered by it and believed her actions would bring them eternal reward in the long run. Elizabeth took up the cause of the sick, the poor, the friendless, the lonely, and the homeless.
Elizabeth would bake bread, mend clothes, and take things to people in need; while her husband didn’t mind her sharing her time and talent with the peasants, other nobility believed that she was actively stealing from the castle. When she came upon Louis and others while they were out hunting and she was delivering bread, she was asked what was under her cloak. The first of her canonized miracles is that it was not bread that she had baked for the poor with the castle’s flour, but roses, that fell out from her cope. This sufficed for the questioning gentry and comforted Louis that his wife was doing God’s will with God’s protection.
When Louis died only six years into their marriage, Elizabeth was terribly grief stricken, and it’s not hard to imagine why. She and her husband lived a simple life of caring for each other, but more importantly, of caring for those who God loved. She may have become a princess when she married Louis, but when he died, she was given her dowry back and used it establish a hospital; even in her grief she saw beyond her own need.
Elizabeth is the patron saint of the Third Order of St. Francis and received a blessing from Saint Francis before his death in 1226. She was canonized just four years after her death, in the throes of caring for those in need, by Pope Gregory IX, and we remember her on November 19th. Her halo is a simple story of a life dictated by faith and nobility, by dedication and devotion, and most of all by love and compassion.
Collect for Elizabeth of Hungary
Almighty God, by your grace your servant Elizabeth of Hungary recognized and honored Jesus in the poor of this world: Grant that we, following her example, may with love and gladness serve those in any need or trouble, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Felicity
In 203, in a small town just west of Carthage (in modern day Tunisia), a group of Christian catechumens was arrested. Felicity, along with five others, was transferred to Carthage to be tried in front of the emperor’s regent, Hilarianus. Her story, and that of her fellow martyrs, is told in the text of The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas.
Felicity is identified early in the text as a young slave woman. She was eight months pregnant when she was brought before the governor. Her crime was being a Christian.
Romans would not send a pregnant woman into the arena. Felicity and her friends were worried that she would not be allowed to join them in their martyrdom, being instead left to die with common criminals. They did not want Felicity to have to “travel alone on the same road to hope.”
Two days before their execution, they gathered together, filled with grief and in fervent prayer. Immediately after their prayer, Felicity went into a difficult labor. Her daughter was born and given to a fellow Christian who raised the girl as her own daughter.
Felicity was greatly relieved, as she would now be able to join the others in the arena. During games commemorating the fourteenth birthday of Geta, the younger son of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, Felicity and the other catechumens were sent to the arena. As they approached the spectacle, The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas reports,
“With them also was Felicitas, glad that she had safely given birth so that now she could fight the beasts, going from one blood bath to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, ready to wash after childbirth in a second baptism.”
Wild beasts were unleashed on the men and a mad heifer was prepared for the women. The women were initially dragged naked in nets into the arena. Seeing their youth and that Felicity had so recently given birth, the crowd was horrified. The women were therefore clothed in unbelted tunics and forced to face the angry cow.
Miraculously, both Felicity and Perpetua survived being trampled. Felicity was injured but helped up by Perpetua. At once they were sentenced to death by the sword. Again from The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas,
“And so the martyrs got up and went to the spot of their own accord as the people wanted them to, and kissing one another they sealed their martyrdom with the ritual kiss of peace. [They] took the sword in silence and without moving.”
Felicity is a patron saint of mothers who have lost their children.
Collect for Felicity
O God, the King of Saints, who strengthened your servants Perpetua, Felicity, and their companions to make a good confession and to encourage one another in the time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
249 comments on “Elizabeth of Hungary vs. Felicity”
Who did I vote for? It says I voted but didn’t. Anyways, I cast for Felicity….I have a connection.
These bios are so interesting, inspiring, and dare I say horrifying. Thanks you for doing these.
Hi, I was unable to vote today. When I tried on my IPhone and Ipad it said "Thank you for your vote" even though I hadn't voted. Also, just tried now on my Windows laptop and when I pressed the button next to my selection nothing happened. Happily my candidate, Elizabeth of Hungary is ahead, but I would have liked to have voted for her as well.
I tried to vote (for Elizabeth) but got an “error 2” message saying “Vote not allowed.” Not sure what error 2 is, but this is y only time voting today!
why doEs it think
i already voted?
Grrrrr....same as yesterday. Thank you forypur vote and I have not voted!
I was able to vote the first two days, but now it shows that I've already voted.
Please record my vote for Elizabeth of Hungary.
Is this voting system rigged?
You can find Felicitas depicted in the procession of female martyrs in the c 504 basilica of Sant’Apoliinare Nuovo, part of the UNESCO World Heritage collection of 5th & 6th century Christian mosaics in Ravenna, Italy. I’m not sure why she’s not getting more fans today. Wikipedia gives the date of Felicitas & Perpetua’s martyrdom as 203 AD. While it’s hard to wrap my head around the barbarity of the Roman games — slaughtering people for public sport . . . and all to celebrate someone’s birthday — I find Felicitas’s courage inspiring, not just that she faced death in the arena, but that she chose to become a catuchem knowing the risk. I also find inspiring that as condemned Christians, this slave woman and this highborn woman were made equal, neither slave nor free.
It’s 2:50 EST and voting is still not possible. Waiting patiently. I’ll check back.
Ah. Have now read all of today’s comments, including many about not voting for “martyrs” or persons “done to rather than doing,” so I must add that I see Felicitas’s story very much as a “doing." Our God is a God of liberation. Surely, as an enslaved woman, that aspect of Christianity — the recognition of her full humanity in a world that named her as less than bc of her enslaved status — is part of what drew her to Jesus. That she could be recognized as fully worthy, fully human, fully deserving of God’s love. That is a “doing." I find it admirable that Elizabeth of Hungary choose a path of service, from her privileged position, but Felicitas — in declaring herself equal in Christ — was challenging the order of the Roman Empire from the position of the most vulnerable.
Wasn’t allowed to vote both yesterday and today! This is my 4th year with Lent Madness and that never happened before. Please fix this as I’m not the only person who cannot vote at all.
Two things: 1--no trouble voting when post is viewed online rather than in email; and
2--Felicity today, in honor of friends who have adopted two children whose mother's addiction issues meant she couldn't care for them properly. Such women need helping folks who live God's love
I agree with Jenny who prefers not to vote for martyrs & instead vote for saints who have *done* rather than being *done too* with torture & killing. Especially appalling are people who looked forward to martyrdom. Elizabeth of Hungary all the way! Especially in this time of billionaire class adulation, we need more examples of the "haves" helping out the "have nots."
I have not voted and it reads thank you for your vote. ????
Website thanks me for my vote, but I haven’t had the chance yet.
I had not voted, yet it said I had.
After I have read the stories it gives me the vote totals and says I have voted. I have not voted yesterday or today. The first day, Thursday it said my vote was rejected. Then showed me the results. I have never had issues in prior years.
@ Jenny
Aha! Do I correctly discern that you are a Wellesley alum?
(Bryn Mawr here)
I have found that when I try to vote, the first time my touch does not create a vote. But, I can always prove that I’m a person successfully. Refreshing the page from the link on the upper right of the page has also helped me to get my vote counted. But I must have patience and try to vote several times before it actually acknowledges that I have touched the screen.
Lent is a time of remembering the suffering of Jesus. Perhaps being frustrated as you keep trying to get your vote recorded could be considered as a tiny sacrifice for Lent.
This is the third day in a row voting was closed before I could vote … I would have voted for felicity but couldn’t.
I wasn’t able to vote either
I struggle with the concept of martyrdom. Christ should have been the last martyr...ever. But when caught within a culture which is stigmatized and abused for its beliefs...hiding, keeping your beliefs to yourself to live another day...even for the sake of perpetuating truth...can fail. Felicity, a 3rd Century believer in Christ had no option. Having to steal from your own wealth in order to be active in your faith is admirable. It seems, however, that the obstacle between Elizabeth and God was her husband, not her belief system. Perhaps she could have dealt with that prior to his death. Not quite the obstacle Felicity had to deal with.
The story of the martyrdom of Felicity and Perpetua is not a happy one. I hate that a young mother would have to give up her newborn baby and be subjected to death in such a brutal way. A few years ago I read in Church history text book that the Christians who lived during that time did not pray for the martyrs, but instead asked the martyrs to pray for them.
I can't get voting to work! Enjoying the information anyhow.
Had this issue today on my smart phone early in the morning. Later found I was able to vote when I used my lap top. Don't know if it was the device change or the later hour. Lent Madness is free and voting is optional. All manner of thing shall be well.
I had to go to the website to read about these 2 saints since I didn't get an email. I was not able to vote, but I did get to read about both of them.
Although from midwife to gladiator was tempting, I chose Elizabeth, who was portrayed as a regular one of, as the hymn says, saints of God.
Vote not allowed again
Thanks for the two different, moving stories of strong women, Elizabeth and Felicitas, each living out deep faith in their own epochs, in a hostile world. I wanted to vote both forward. Too bad they were pitted against each other in this first round, so we will only get to hear more about one going on. Adding to the irony, this also coincides with International Women’s Day (and yes, it’s understood these two women’s stories, and this day, have converged on the same date not by intent, but because of where both Elizabeth and Felicitas happen to stand in this year’s LM alphabetical order.) The circumstance of these women’s stories competing for space (while part of the overall Lent Madness fun silliness, of course) shows another layer of meaning, in the broader emphasis of this day. Hoping that the woman whose story doesn’t get past this stage can be included next year.