Saint Elisabeth of Schonau
Welcome to another history post!
In this post I'll be talking about Saint Elisabeth of Schonau, who just so happened to be a medium that could listen and relay messages from spirits on the other side
Elisabeth was born in Germany in 1129 to an obscured family, but much of her earlier years are unknown. At the age of 12, she accepted the double monastery of Schonau in Nassau as her permanent home and took her vows to become a nun in 1147. At the monastery in 1952, Elisabeth began to be burdened by religious visions. Allegedly, these visions would happen on Sunday and on Holy Days at mass or after reading and learning about Saints. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Christ, the Virgin Mary, an angel or the saint she was reading about would reveal themselves to her to relay a message (“Catholic encyclopedia: St. Elizabeth of Schonau”).
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This is a manuscript of Jacques Bauchant’s French translation of the visions of Elizabeth of Schönau.
It reads,
"Des visions Madame sainte Elizabeth des voies et du mont de Dieu du mistere et de la signifiance de ce" (Steel)
Which translates to,
"Madame Elizabeth's visions of the ways and mount of God of the mistere and the significance of this"
On other occasions, she would see realistic imagery of the Passion or the short final period before the death of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, the period after death where the soul passes on or ‘ascends’ to heaven. Everything she witnessed, she would jot down on wax tablets to keep a record of what she heard and saw.
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A few sources I’ve researched stated that she was also being tormented by demons and demonic forces (“St. Elizabeth of Schonau”). Eventually, she was able to get her visions published after her brother, Eghbert, who was an abbot, a man in charge of an abbey of monks in 1155, put everything in writing and presented his findings at a lecture.
During the height of her career, between the years of 1147 to 1157, she published three books of “Visions,” "Liber Viarum Dei." and The Revelation on the Martyrdom of St. Ursula and her Companions. “Liber Viarum Dei” is where she mostly talks about the consequences of corrupted monks and bishops and utters “prophetic threats of judgment” against priests who are unfaithful shepherds (St. Elizabeth of Schonau”). As for the Church, they never even looked at her visions, let alone believed in them. According to the Catholic EN, Eusebius Amor, a German Roman theologian, believed Elisabeth's visions to be nothing but her own imagination at the hands of the devil (“St. Elizabeth of Schonau”). Despite this, Elizabeth truly believed she was seeing visions from religious figures. From then on, she served as the abbess at Schonau from 1157 until her death in 1164 on June 18th. St.
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Elisabeth was never formally canonized but was later added to the list of saints, thanks to her popularity. The people gathered to have her honored as a saint, and she was laid to rest in the abbey church of Saint Florin, but that wasn’t her final resting place. She was reburied again in a new chapel that would then be destroyed during the great fire of Schonau Abbey in 1723, and now all that remains is her skull after Swedish and Hessian soldiers attacked the Monastery and scattered the rest of her bones somewhere (“Saint Elisabeth of Schonau”).
Her ability to see visions is quite interesting to me. Learning about her makes me want to read her book, The Revelation on the Martyrdom of St. Ursula and her Companions, since she goes into depth about her conversation with saints. I love learning about the spiritual side of history because it feels as if everything involving history, such as politics and scientific discoveries, can be explained with logic, but with religion, humans will never know the whole story as to why imagery in different religions keeps repeating or why the supernatural holds so much significance. For instance, science can not currently explain why we have dreams, but for centuries, visions and prophecies have been seen in historical texts. Also, some researchers believe that manifestations can become real by giving the idea enough power by repeatedly thinking about it because the Earth works off of energy. If anything, it drives me crazy wondering if everyone in the past was just really mentally ill or maybe they were on to something that we’re no longer able to see because we aren’t as susceptible as we used to be. Then again, why should we? We have the internet.
Sources:
“CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Elizabeth of Schonau.” New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05392a.htm. Accessed 22 November 2023.
“Saint Elisabeth of Schonau.” Path to Sainthood, 16 June 2021, https://www.thepathtosainthood.com/post/saint-elisabeth-of-schonau. Accessed 22 November 2023.
“Saint Elisabeth of Schonau.” Path to Sainthood, 16 June 2021, https://www.thepathtosainthood.com/post/saint-elisabeth-of-schonau. Accessed 26 November 2023.
“Saint of the Day – 18 June – Saint Elisabeth of Schönau (1129-1164).” AnaStpaul, 18 June 2020, https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/18/saint-of-the-day-18-june-saint-elisabeth-of-schonau-1129-1164/. Accessed 26 November 2023.
Images
“\/.” YouTube, 16 June 2023, https://anastpaul.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/st-elisabeth-schoenau_kirche_004.jpg. Accessed 26 November 2023.
Manuscript
STEEL, KARL. “Elizabeth of Schönau - the paths of God; also: Rabbits.” In the Medieval Middle, 24 October 2013, https://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2013/10/elizabeth-of-schonau-paths-of-god.html. Accessed 26 November 2023.
STEEL, KARL. “Elizabeth of Schönau - the paths of God; also: Rabbits.” In the Medieval Middle, 24 October 2013, https://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2013/10/elizabeth-of-schonau-paths-of-god.html. Accessed 26 November 2023.
“St. Elizabeth of Schonau.” Catholic News Agency, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-elizabeth-of-schonau-540. Accessed 22 November 2023.
“St. Elizabeth of Schonau - Saints & Angels.” Catholic Online, https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3097. Accessed 22 November 2023.
“Technology GIF - Spongbob Patrick Cavemen - Discover & Share GIFs.” Tenor, 26 September 2016, https://tenor.com/view/spongbob-patrick-cavemen-technology-gif-6072762. Accessed 22 November 2023.
I appreciated the final paragraph in this post where you explained your reasons for this topic and your interest in the subject in general.
ReplyDeleteOverall, you have grown throughout this blog project, and I hope you saw the value of this project in both your audience awareness and your writing this semester.