St. Elizabeth (Mother of John the Baptist)

Posted on November 18, 2018 by admin No comments

Born: 1st century BC Hebron

Died: 1st century BC (or early AD) (probably Hebron)

Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church

Canonized: Pre-Congregation

Feast: November 5 (Roman Catholic, Lutheran) September 5 (Eastern Orthodox, Anglican)

Patronage: Pregnant women

According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was “of the daughters of Aaron” (1:5). She and her husband Zachariah were “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (1:6–7), but childless. While he was in the temple of the Lord (1:8–12), Zacharias was visited by the angel Gabriel:

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.
— Luke 1:13–15

Zacharias doubted whereby he could know this since both he and his wife were old. The angel identified himself as Gabriel and told Zacharias that he would be “dumb, and not able to speak” until the words were fulfilled, because he did not believe. When the days of his ministry were complete, he returned to his house (Luke 1:16–23).

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
— Luke 1:24–25

According to the account, the angel Gabriel was then sent to Nazareth in Galilee to her relative[Luke 1:36] Mary, a virgin, espoused to a man called Joseph, and informed her that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost and bring forth a son to be called Jesus. After she was also informed that her “relative Elizabeth” had begun her sixth month of pregnancy, she traveled to “Hebron, in the hill country of Judah”, to visit Elizabeth.(Luke 1:26–40)
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
— Luke 1:41–45

Matthew Henry comments, “Mary knew that Elizabeth was with child, but it does not appear that Elizabeth had been told any thing of her relative Mary’s being designed for the mother of the Messiah; and therefore what knowledge she appears to have had of it must have come by a revelation, which would be a great encouragement to Mary.” After Mary heard Elizabeth’s blessing, she spoke the words now known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55). Again, Henry notes that “it was here, in Hebron, that circumcision was first instituted”, and it was here that the LORD turned Abram’s name to Abraham when he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
— Luke 1:56–64

That is the last mention of Elizabeth, who is not mentioned in any other chapter in the Bible. The chapter continues with the prophecy of Zacharias, (known as the Benedictus,) and ends with the note that John “grew, and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts” until his ministry to Israel began; so it is unknown how long Elizabeth and her husband lived after that (Luke 1:65–80).
A traditional “tomb of Elizabeth” is shown in the Franciscan Monastery of Saint John in the Wilderness near Jerusalem.

Apocrypha

Elizabeth is mentioned in several books of the Apocrypha, most prominently in the Protevangelion of James, in which the birth of her son and the subsequent murder of her husband are chronicled.

Sainthood

Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on September 23 and in the Orthodox and Anglican traditions on September 5, on the same day with her husband Zacharias/Zechariah. She is commemorated as a matriarch in the Calendar of Saints (November 5) of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Zacharias is commemorated as a prophet.

Saint Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) Chaplet Prayers

On the Medal Pray

Dear Saint Elizabeth, your cousin, Mary, came hurrying first to you with the time-shattering, earth-shaking news that she was to become the Mother of God!

You must have met her glowing announcement with profound and frightened amazement, but with total trust in Mary’s unimpeachable truthfulness, and her conviction of the magnificent event to come. You knew Mary to be modest, kind, prayerful, and in every way a humble, virtuous woman. Yet how astounding was her revelation to you!

What an honor to be the very first human to hear these epochal tidings of happy joy, this world-changing, humanity-saving, news. God was to come into this world as a human! Your cousin was to become the Mother of God!

Please accept my veneration to you, who were honored to hear first the earth-changing news of the coming salvation of mankind, an event which would echo forward and back through the endless halls of eternity. Guide me always, dear Elizabeth, to live my life in a manner worthy of the glorious inheritance which God has promised to all those who are faithful each day to His Word.

Please intercede for me with your cousin, Mary, our mother, and her Son, our Lord and King. All this I pray of you, in confidence and hope, and love, Saint Elizabeth. Amen.

Pray the Our Father on each of the first three beads

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Pray the Hail Mary on each of the next three beads

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray the Glory Be on the final set of three beads

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be; World without end. Amen.

On the Crucifix Pray

Almighty God, in Thy wisdom Thou hast entrusted to me a soul to rear for Thy honor and glory. It is a great responsibility. I am proud and a little afraid, but I trust in Thy fatherly goodness and the intercession of the Mother of Jesus, who knew all the hopes and fears of one who expects a child.

Dear God, give me courage and fortitude when I need it. Let my child be born strong and healthy and with the disposition for wanting to become a Saint. Good Saint Elizabeth, cousin of our Lady and mother of John the Baptist, pray for me and the child to come.

Mary, most pure Virgin and Mother of God, I remind thee of the blessed moment when thou didst see for the first time thy newly born Child and folded Him in thy arms. Through this joy of thy maternal heart, obtain for me the grace that I and my child may be protected from all danger.

Mary, Mother of my Savior, I remind thee of the unspeakable joy you felt when, after three days of painful seeking, thou again didst find thy Divine Son. Through this joy, obtain for me the grace to worthily bring into the world the child He didst create for me and his father.

Most glorious Virgin Mary, I remind thee of the heavenly joy that flooded thy maternal heart when thy Son appeared to thee after His Resurrection. Through this great joy, obtain for my child the blessings of holy Baptism, so that my child may be admitted to the Church, the Mystical Body of thy Divine Son, and to the company of all the Saints. Amen.