Happy Monday! The Saintly Sixteen continues as Elizabeth of Hungary takes on Mechtild of Magdeburg in a battle of 13th century saintly heavyweights.
Don't forget, if you'd like a quick refresher on their first round bios, click the Bracket Tab and scroll down to view all the previous matchups. It's just one more service we provide here at Lent Madness, although it's also important to remind everyone that you get what you pay for.
On Friday, Emily Cooper defeated Hiram Kano 58% to 42% to advance to the Elate Eight.
Keep your eyes peeled for this week's exciting episode of Monday Madness which will be released later today.
Vote now!
Elizabeth of Hungary
Some know her for her miracles of bread and roses, others for her deep love and compassion for the ill and infirmed, but I’ve come to think of Elizabeth of Hungary as your favorite saints’ favorite saint (that’s a thinly veiled Chappel Roan reference for your Saintly Sixteen). Shortly before his death, St. Francis sent a personal message and blessing to Elizabeth upon learning of her and her devotion.
But before she was allowed to join the Order of Saint Francis, she had to wrestle with the oppressive restrictions of her appointed confessor, Conrad of Marburg, a favorite of Pope Gregory IX, and let me tell you, heresy hated to see Gregory IX and Conrad coming. They were modern day (in the 1200s) Heresy Hunters…but a notable heresy hunter does not, surprisingly, make for a great pastoral priest for a young widow who has just lost her deep love, Louis. Although Elizabeth was already inclined toward pious leanings and acts of service to the poor, Conrad demanded more in an attempt to break her will, it is said. She was no longer allowed to give alms without his permission, she asked to join a convent and it was denied, and demanded that she live up to an extreme lifestyle controlled by her confessor, that is, until Good Friday of 1228, when she was allowed to join the Third Order of Saint Francis.
Elizabeth’s devotion to God withstood the oppression of Conrad and outlasted his harsh treatment, and yet she remained committed to the people who Christ loves deeply. Maybe that’s why she is your favorite saints’ favorite saint. Later the same year she joined the Order, she took what remained of her dowry and built a hospital in Marburg. She died penniless at 24 in Marburg, but deeply happy with how she had spent her life impacting those around her and using what little power and influence a young woman moved about through the exchange of dowries and marriages could. In 2007, there was an 800th year celebration of her birth in Marburg, with pilgrims coming from all over the world to celebrate her impact. There have been at least two musicals based on her life, one of which has a song available on YouTube, if you want to practice your German.
She is the patron saint for many things such as bakers, brides, charitable workers, exiles, and hospitals, but she’s also the patron for people ridiculed for their piety, toothaches, and falsely accused people. She is the people’s patron; your favorite saints’ favorite saint, and this Lent Madness writer’s new favorite saint among the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us.
Mechthild of Magdeburg
At age 12, medieval German mystic and self-described “unruly woman of God” Mechthild of Magdeburg had her first vision.
In her 40s, she began to write them down.
Mechthild’s words — written in common rather than ecclesial language and collected in seven volumes titled The Flowing Light of the Godhead — include almost shockingly intimate poetry about God’s love, an early entry into the “Jesus is my boyfriend” genre. They also include criticisms of church corruption (and, honestly, “stinking billy goats” is still a sick burn). They may have inspired Dante’s Divine Comedy and almost got her books burned.
Let’s spend a moment with some of these words that held so much power.
One of Mechthild’s most famous poems, from Frank Tobin’s 1998 translation of The Flowing Light of the Godhead, reads in part:
A fish in water does not drown.
A bird in the air does not plummet.
Gold in fire does not perish.
Rather, it gets its purity and its radiant color there.
God has created all creatures to live according to their nature.
How, then, am I to resist my nature?
I must go from all things to God.
Jane Hirschfield included some of Mechthild’s poetry in her 1994 collection Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women alongside perhaps better-known saints like Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila; poets like Emily Dickinson; passages from Song of Songs; and a traditional Navajo prayer.
Among them:
I cannot dance, O Lord,
Unless You lead me.
If you wish me to leap joyfully,
Let me see you dance and sing —Then I will leap into Love —
And from Love into Knowledge,
And from Knowledge into the Harvest,That sweetest Fruit beyond human sense.
There I will stay with You, whirling.
Many more snippets from Mechthild’s writing appear in blog posts online today, continuing to inspire and connect across time in the language of the people.
Like: “If you love the justice of Jesus Christ more than you fear human judgment then you will seek to do compassion. Compassion means that if I see my friend and my enemy in equal need, I shall help them both equally. Justice demands that we seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner and comfort them and offer them our help. Here lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devils much distress.”
And: “The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw — and knew I saw — all things in God and God in all things.”
And finally: “How should one live?
Live welcoming to all.”
47 comments on “Elizabeth of Hungary vs. Mechthild of Magdeburg”
So difficult today. As a professed Third Order Society of St. Francis, I must vote for my sister. I also stayed at the St. Elizabeth guesthouse in Assisi a year ago.
How can I not vote, again, for a self-confessed 'unruly woman of God'? I will have to seek out more of her writings. Thank you for this glimpse into her work.
With “all things in God, and God in all things,” and using the language of the people, Mechthild has my vote.
Emily won ime for Mechthild today with her LAST line “Live welcoming all”! & as I grew up a bad Baptist, her unruliness resonates with me!
How can i not vote for Mechthild who words and hand reached down through the centuries and touches us today
Vote for Mechthilde! The unruly woman of God!
Mechthild got my vote because the power of service comes from within the heart; which is where her witness of God's love shown forth. Tough call - both are worthy
I had a hard time deciding but Mechthild the unruly saint has my vote today. I like whirling and dancing with God.
Still going with Mechthild. We unruly women of God have to stick together. Besides, that beautiful piece about compassion caught my attention. It's what Bishop Budde asked of Donald Trump.
I love "unruly women."
"There I will stay with you, whirling". How could I resist.
Rene Jamieson. Exactly.
Very close...as it should be.
Mystics. The world needs mystics. They can pierce perceived reality and see and tell what is beyond. Einstein used elegant and elaborate mathematics to show the indestructibility of matter and energy. Mechthild does the same with poetry and links the observation to God.
My vote goes once again to Elizabeth for how she has inspired people generation after generation to care for the poor.
"I don’t know how to explain to someone why they should care about other people." This headline from a piece by Kayla Chadwick has become a much-shared internet meme in these heartbreaking times. Mechthild's reply to this resonates through the centuries:
“If you love the justice of Jesus Christ more than you fear human judgment then you will seek to do compassion. Compassion means that if I see my friend and my enemy in equal need, I shall help them both equally. Justice demands that we seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner and comfort them and offer them our help. Here lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devils much distress.”
I pray that, following Mechthild's holy counsel, compassionate and unruly women and men of God will rise together to distress and disarm the self-absorbed devils of our day.
Hard to vote for today.
Elizabeth of Hungry & Mechtchild of Magdeburg are both at a dead heat on the voting.
"Unruly Woman of God", I can see the Tee shirts now. I need that bumper sticker to place next to my "And also with ya'll" sticker on my car.
Oooh, I love a close one! When I voted, it was 764 to 741! I'm in with Mechthild, because her poetry is beautiful and still relevant.
It was the final quote of Mechthild that swayed me: “How should one live? Live welcoming to all”
Ahhhh....very tough one again today!
But, like I did the first time around, Mechthild is my vote!
The "God has created all creatures to live according to their nature" has tugged at my heart since the first time I read it.
Tough choice today, and I can see that from the current standings!
This is going to be a close one. Both were "unruly women of God".
I had to go with Elizabeth because she was not only "unruly" but she RESISTED and PERSISTED in her faith despite all her opposition.
PS-It doesn't hurst that I named my firstborn Elizabeth, but that did not influence me one little bit.
I am an unruly child of G*d. I love Mechtild’s statements.
Love the visions
Come on, unruly women and men. We can get Methchild into the next round! How I love the vision of leaping into love, and from there into knowledge, and from there into the harvest. Come on, let's vote.
Looks like a close contest!
this was another difficult choice, however the writings of Mechthild won me over
Tough one. Both deserve the Halo
Mechthild all the way!