Saint of the Day – 30 May – Blessed Elisabeth Stagel OP (c1300-1360) Virgin, Prioress of the Order of Preachers, writer, friend and spiritual student of Blessed Henry Suso OP (1290-1365). Born in c1300 in Zurich, Switzerland and died in c1360 of natural causes at Töss Convent in Winterthur in Switzerland, where she was the Prioress. Also known as – Elisabeth Staglin, Elisabeth Steiglin, Elsbeth…
Elisabeth was born into a noble family of Zurich, the daughter of a City Councilor, Rudolf Stagel.
In 1336 she came into contact with the Blessed mystic Henry Suso and from that moment she was his pupil and soulmate. She developed a deep friendship with him and the two remained in active correspondence for the remainder of their lives. Bl Henry considered Elisabeth as his spiritual daughter.
During their conversations, Elisabeth asked Bl Henry to help her understand the pathway to God by sharing with her his own experiences. However, Suso did not know that the well-educated nun was keeping the letters he sent her and recording all that Suso told her, concerning both theological matters and his extreme practices of personal penance. When he learned of her undertaking, he requested the texts and proceeded to burn them, saving only the second installment of manuscripts for the sake of educating other religious. Bl Henry thereafter forbade Elisabeth to imitate him by engaging in extreme asceticism, fearing for her health.
Elisabeth then authored the Lives of the Nuns of Töss, a work containing biographies of 39 nuns and providing a comprehensive picture of mysticism in the Töss Convent. Blessed Elisabeth of Hungary may have been one of the Nuns whose life Elisabeth described.
Elisabeth died in Töss in 1360 and was probsbly buried there.
Blessed Elisabeth’s book is integral to understanding mysticism and monastic life in medieval Germany.
AnaStpaul 